The Syncretic Style of Philosophy in the Italian Renaissance

Many Jewish intellectuals in Italy took over the habits of speculative Kabbalah. A diverse range of Renaissance Jews claimed that philosophy, especially Platonism, was based on older ideas traceable to biblical figures like Moses and Abraham. Giovanni Pico de la Merandola's philosophical achievements were made possible in part by knowledge of the Hebrew language and Kabbalistic lore. He also learned from them about a veraues theory of the mind.