Socrates, Or On Human Knowledge (1651) is the first sceptical treatise of the early modern period to be written by a Jewish author, Simone Luzzatto (ca. 1583-1663), a rabbi of the Jewish community of Venice. Luzzatto was a highly talented classicist, conversant with Latin and Greek literature, and a passionate reader of medieval Italian authors. Socrates, written in the vernacular and signed by Luzzatto as a "Venetian Jew," is a key work for investigating the intensive transfer of knowledge between Jews and Christians. It is also a mirror of contemporary philosophical leanings and social and political changes.

Giuseppe Veltri and Michela Torbidoni, Hamburg University, Germany.