View source for Uriel da Costa

{{short description|Early 17th century Portuguese-Jewish philosopher}}
{{Infobox philosopher
| name             = Uriel da Costa
| image            = Uriel da Costa.jpg
| caption          = Imaginary 1897 portrait by [[Léon Bakst]]
| birth_date       = Gabriel Fiuza da Costa <br /> 1585 
| birth_place      = [[Porto]], [[Kingdom of Portugal]]<br />
| death_date       = 1640 C.
| death_place      = [[Amsterdam]], [[Dutch Republic]]
| education        = [[Universidade de Coimbra]],<br />[[Faculty of Law]]<br /><small>([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], June 1608)</small>
| institutions     = University of Coimbra
| region           = [[Western philosophy]]
| era              = 17th century Philosophy
| main_interests   = [[Biblical Criticism]], [[Criticism of Judaism]], [[Philosophy of Religion]], [[ethics]], [[morality]]
| signature          = Uriel da Costa’s signature.png
}}
'''Uriel da Costa''' ({{IPA|pt|uɾiˈɛl dɐ ˈkɔʃtɐ|lang}}; also '''Acosta''' or '''d'Acosta'''; {{circa|1585}} – April 1640) was a Portuguese [[Sephardic Jews|Sephardi]] [[philosopher]] who was born a [[New Christian]] but returned to [[Judaism]], whereupon he questioned the Catholic and [[Rabbinic Judaism|rabbinic]] orthodoxies of his time. This led him into conflict with both Christian and Jewish institutions: his books were placed on the [[Index Librorum Prohibitorum]] and several Jewish authorities [[Herem (censure)|excommunicated him]]. His [[iconoclastic]] life culminated in [[Jewish views on suicide|suicide]] in c. 1640.

==Life==
His short autobiography contains many details about his life, but over the past two centuries, documents uncovered in Portugal, [[Amsterdam]], [[Hamburg]], and elsewhere have added much to the picture.

Da Costa was born Gabriel Fiuza da Costa in [[Porto]]. His ancestors were ''Cristãos-novos'' ([[New Christians]])—[[Persecution of Jews and Muslims by Manuel I of Portugal|Jews forcibly converted to Catholicism by state edict]] in 1497.<ref>Salomon & Sassoon, ''Introduction to da Costa's Examination of Pharisaic Traditions'', 1993 [p. 2].</ref> His father, Bento da Costa, was a well-off international merchant and [[tax-farmer]].<ref>Salomon & Sassoon, ''Introduction to da Costa's Examination of Pharisaic Traditions'', 1993 [p. 4].</ref> His mother, Branca, "seems to have been a [[Judaizers|Judaizer]]" (i.e., a false convert to Christianity), according to Nadler.<ref>Nadler, ''[[Spinoza]], A Life'', 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press 2022, 77</ref>

Studying [[Canon law of the Catholic Church|Catholic canon law]] at the [[University of Coimbra]] intermittently between 1600 and 1608, he began to read the [[Hebrew Bible]] and contemplate it seriously. Da Costa also held a benefice, an ecclesiastical office, in the Catholic Church. In his autobiography, da Costa depicted his family as devout Catholics. However, they had been subject to several investigations by the [[Portuguese Inquisition]], suggesting they were ''[[Converso]]s'', more or less observing Jewish customs. Da Costa explicitly supported adherence to [[Mosaic law]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=In the shadow of history: Jews and conversos at the dawn of modernity|last=Faur|first=José|date=1992|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=9780791408018|pages=esp. 123|oclc=878665784}}</ref>

After his father died, the da Costa family fell into financial difficulty due to unpaid debts. In 1614, they escaped their predicament by leaving Portugal with a significant sum previously collected as tax farmers for [[:pt:Jorge de Mascarenhas|Jorge de Mascarenhas]]. The family branched off, settling among two major [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardic]] [[diaspora]] communities. Newly [[Brit milah|circumcised]] and with new [[Jewish names]], two brothers migrated to Amsterdam, while two others went with their mother to Hamburg. Da Costa was among the Hamburg group, going by Uriel among his Jewish neighbours and using the alias Adam Romez for outside relations, presumably because he was wanted in Portugal. All resumed their international trade business.<ref>Salomon & Sassoon, ''Introduction to da Costa's Examination of Pharisaic Traditions'', 1993 [pp. 6–8].</ref> Upon arriving in Hamburg, da Costa quickly became disenchanted with the kind of Judaism he saw in practice. He came to believe that the [[Rabbinic authority|rabbinic leadership]] was obsessed with [[Orthopraxy|ritualism]] and legal posturing. At this time, he composed his earliest known written work, ''Propostas contra a Tradição'' (Propositions against the Tradition).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dieschriftendesu00acos|title=Die Schriften des Uriel da Costa|last1=Acosta|first1=Uriel|last2=Gebhardt|first2=Carl|date=1922|publisher=Amsterdam, M. Hertzberger|pages=[https://archive.org/details/dieschriftendesu00acos/page/1 1]–10}}</ref> In eleven short theses he called into question the disparity between Jewish customs and a [[Biblical literalism|literal]] reading of the [[Torah]], and more generally tried to prove from reason and scripture that this system of law is sufficient.

In 1616, the text was dispatched to the leaders of the prominent [[History of the Jews in Venice|Jewish community in Venice]]. The Venetian rabbinic council ruled against it, prompting the [[Portuguese Jewish community in Hamburg|Hamburg community]] to sanction da Costa with a [[Herem (censure)|''herem'', or excommunication]]. The ''Propositions'' are extant only as quotes and paraphrases in ''Shield and Buckler'' ({{langx|rtl=yes|label=nonr|he|מגן וצנה}}), a lengthy rebuttal by [[Leon of Modena]],<ref>Salomon & Sassoon, introduction to da Costa's Examination of Pharisaic Traditions, 1993 [pp. 9–12].</ref> written in response to religious queries about da Costa posed by the Hamburg Jewish authorities.{{efn|Leone of Modena later published a developed iconoclastic treatise of his own ("kol sakhal / shaagat arye"), and it is quite possible that da Costa's doubts had some influence on him. Salomon & Sassoon, introduction to da Costa's Examination of Pharisaic Traditions, 1993, pp. 24–29.}}

Da Costa's early work thus resulted in official excommunication in [[Venice]] and Hamburg; it is not known what effect this had on his life. He barely mentioned it in his autobiography and continued his international business. In 1623, he moved to Amsterdam for unknown reasons.<ref>Previous research concluded he went to Hamburg after a time in Amsterdam, but some official documents show otherwise.</ref> The leaders of the Amsterdam Sephardic community, troubled by the arrival of a known [[Heresy in Judaism|heretic]],<ref>Salomon & Sassoon, introduction to da Costa's Examination of Pharisaic Traditions, 1993 [pp. 12–16].</ref> staged a hearing and sanctioned the excommunication previously set in place against da Costa.

At about the same time (in Hamburg or Amsterdam), da Costa was working on a second treatise. Three chapters of this unpublished manuscript were stolen and formed the target for a traditionalist rebuttal published by Semuel da Silva of Hamburg. Da Costa enlarged his book further, with the printed version containing responses to da Silva and revisions to the crux of his argument.[[File:Uriel da Costa’s excommunication.jpg|thumb|500x500px|'''Uriel da Costa's excommunication''' (1888) by [[Meijer de Haan]] took 8 years of work, created a huge backlash, and disappeared shortly after, and is still not extant.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Offenberg |first=Adri |date=2009-01-01 |title=Meijer de Haan's Uriel Acosta |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/zuto/6/1/article-p121_16.xml |journal=Zutot |language=en |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=121–130 |doi=10.1163/187502109790213014 |issn=1571-7283|url-access=subscription }}</ref>]]

In 1623, da Costa published this book under the title of {{lang|pt|Exame das tradições phariseas}} (Examination of Pharisaic Traditions) in Portuguese. The complete printed book was discovered in 1990 at the [[Royal Library, Denmark|Danish Royal Library]] by [[H. P. Salomon]]; previously, only three chapters had been known. The work runs to over 200 pages and is divided into two parts. In the first part, da Costa develops his earlier ''Propositions'', considering Modena's responses and corrections. In the second part, he adds novel views that the [[Hebrew Bible]], especially the Torah, does not support the idea of [[immortality of the soul]]. Da Costa believed that this was not an idea deeply rooted in biblical Judaism but rather had been formulated primarily by the [[Pharisees]] and was a late addition to the [[Jewish principles of faith]]. The work also pointed to supposed discrepancies between biblical Judaism and Rabbinic Judaism. He declared the latter an accumulation of mechanical [[ceremony|ceremonies]] and ritual practices. He believed it was thoroughly devoid of [[spirituality|spiritual]] and philosophical concepts. Da Costa was relatively early in arguing before a Jewish readership in favour of the mortality of the soul, and in appealing exclusively to direct reading of the bible. He cites neither rabbinic authorities nor philosophers of the Aristotelian and Neoplatonic traditions.<ref>Salomon & Sassoon, introduction to da Costa's Examination of Pharisaic Traditions, 1993 [p. 47].</ref>

The book sparked a controversy among [[Jews in Amsterdam]], whose leaders reported to the (Christian) city authorities that this was an attack on Christianity as well as on Judaism. The work was [[book burning|burned publicly]], and da Costa was fined a significant sum. By 1627, da Costa was a denizen of [[Utrecht]], though the Amsterdam community still had an acrimonious relationship with him. For example, they asked a Venetian rabbi, Yaakov Ha-Levi, whether da Costa's elderly mother was eligible for a burial plot in the [[Jewish cemetery]]. The following year, da Costa's mother died, and he went back to Amsterdam. Ultimately, the loneliness was too much for him to handle.<ref>Salomon & Sassoon, introduction to da Costa's Examination of Pharisaic Traditions, 1993 [pp. 18–24].</ref> Around 1633, he accepted the terms of reconciliation with the Jewish authorities, which he does not detail in his autobiography. He was thus reaccepted into the Jewish community.[[File:Exemplar Humanae Vitae, Uriel Acosta.jpg|right|thumb|439x439px|''Exemplar Humanae Vitae'', by Uriel Acosta.]]

Shortly after, da Costa was tried again; he encountered two Christians who expressed to him their desire to [[convert to Judaism]]; he dissuaded them from doing so. Based on this and earlier accusations regarding ''[[kashrut]]'' violations, he was excommunicated again. As he describes it, for seven years, he lived in virtual isolation, shunned by his family and embroiled in civil-financial disputes with them. In search of legal help, he returned to being "an ape amongst the apes"; he would follow established Jewish traditions and practices but with little real conviction. Seeking reconciliation, he first suffered punishment for his heretical views: he was publicly given 39 [[Flagellation|lashes]] at the [[Portuguese Synagogue (Amsterdam)|Portuguese synagogue in Amsterdam]], then forced to lie on the floor while the congregation trampled over him. This ordeal left him both demoralized and thirsty for revenge against the man (a cousin or nephew) who initiated his trial seven years previously and marked the final dramatic point of his autobiography.

In a document entitled ''Exemplar Humanae Vitae'' (Example of a Human Life), da Costa tells the story of his life, intellectual development, and experiences as a victim of [[Religious intolerance|intolerance]]. Transmitted to print in Latin some decades after his death and only a few pages long, it also expresses [[rationalism|rationalistic]] and sceptical views, including doubts about whether biblical law was divinely sanctioned or whether Moses simply wrote it down. Da Costa suggests that all [[religion]] is a human invention, and specifically rejects formalized, ritualized religion. He further sketches an idealized religion to be based only on [[natural law]], as God has no use for empty ceremony, nor for violence and strife.

===Suicide===
Two reports agree that da Costa committed suicide in Amsterdam in 1640:<ref>Salomon & Sassoon, introduction to da Costa's Examination of Pharisaic Traditions, 1993 [p. 23].</ref> [[:w:de:Johannes Müller (Pastor)|Johannes Müller]], a Protestant theologian of Hamburg gives the time as April, and Amsterdam [[Remonstrants|Remonstrant]] preacher [[Philipp van Limborch]] adds that he set out to end the lives of both his brother (or nephew) and himself. Seeing his relative approach one day, he grabbed a pistol and pulled the trigger, but it misfired. Then he reached for another, turned it on himself, and fired, dying a reportedly terrible death.

==Influence==
{{Original research section|date=June 2010}}
[[File:Dacosta und Spinoza.jpg|thumb|Imagined portrait of da Costa instructing the young [[Baruch Spinoza]], by [[Samuel Hirszenberg]] (1901)]]
[[File:Uriel Da Costa Pharisees.JPG|thumb|250px|right|English translation of Da Costa's ''Examination of Pharisaic Traditions'']] In his lifetime, ''Examination'' inspired not only da Silva's answer, but also [[Menasseh Ben Israel|Menasseh ben Israel]]'s more lasting ''De Resurrectione Mortuorum'' (1636) directed against the "Sadducees",<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4v5wRSYnT0kC&q=da+costa+1636+resurrection&pg=PA101|title=Menasseh Ben Israel and His World|last=van den Berg|first=Jan|date=1989|publisher=Brill |isbn=9004091149|pages=101|language=en|chapter=Menasseh ben Israel, Henry More and Johannes Hoornbeeck on the Pre-existence of the Soul}}</ref> and a listing in the [[Index Librorum Prohibitorum|Index of Prohibited Books]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/A295133|page=[https://archive.org/details/A295133/page/n439 354]|title=Novus index librorum prohibitorum et expurgatorum|publisher=ex typographaeo Francisci de Lyra|last=Zapata|first=Antonio|date=1632|language=la}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Den Boer|first=Harm|date=1989-01-01|title=Was Uriel Da Costas's "Examen" Seized by the Spanish Inquisition? The Spanish "Index librorum prohibitorum" as a bibliographical source|jstor=41481685|journal=Studia Rosenthaliana|volume=23|issue=1|pages=5–7}}</ref>

After his death, da Costa's name became synonymous with the ''Exemplar Humanae Vitae''. Müller publicized da Costa's excommunication, to make an anachronistic point that some Sephardic Jews of his days were Sadducees.<ref>{{Cite book| publisher =Zacharias Härtel | last = Müller| first = Johannes| title = Judaismus oder Jüdenthum,...| date = 1707 |orig-year = 1644 |page=59 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=rK1iAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA59}}</ref> Johann Helwig Willemer made the same point, and implied that this extreme heresy leads to suicide.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-tNTAAAAcAAJ&q=Helvicus%20Willemer%20sadducaeis&pg=PT47|title=De Sadducaeis, ex veterum Hebraeorum monumentis instituta|last1=Willemer|first1=Johann Helwig|last2=Langenbeck|first2=Georg|date=1680|language=en|quote=Inter Hispanicos Judaeos quaedam Sadducaeorum reliquae supersunt uti constat vel exemplo Urielis Rabulae Hebrei qui hispanico idiomate "Examen Traditionum Philosophicarum ad legem scriptam" edidit in eo humanarum mortalitatem, propugnavit а tandem Anno christi 1640 . Ipse violentas manus sibi intulit.}}</ref> <!--Limborch why . Bibliotheque Universelle review 1687: Deist? --> [[Pierre Bayle]] reported the contents of the ''Exemplar'' quite fully, to demonstrate among other things that questioning religion without turning to revelation would bring one to miserable faithlessness.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia| last1 = Bayle| first1 = Pierre| last2 = Desmaizeaux| first2 = Pierre| last3 = Tricaud| first3 = Anthelme| last4 = Gaudin| first4 = Alexis| title = Acosta (Uriel)| encyclopedia = [[Dictionnaire Historique et Critique|The dictionary historical and critical of Mr. Peter Bayle]]| date = 1739 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=r21XAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA93}}</ref>

The later [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] saw da Costa's rational religion more tolerantly. [[Johann Gottfried Herder|Herder]] eulogized him as a crusader of authentic belief.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b-ZKAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA522|title=The Monthly Review|last1=Herder|first1=Johann Gottfried von|date=1796|publisher=R. Griffiths.|language=en}}</ref> [[Voltaire]] noted that he left Judaism for philosophy.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g2BiAAAAcAAJ&q=pg&pg=PA116|title=Letters addressed to his Highness the Prince of *****, containing comments on the writings of the most eminent authors, who have been accused of attacking the Christian Religion|last=Voltaire|date=1769|publisher=Robert Urie|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ddg4FpOVPEMC&q=voltaire+orbio&pg=PA6|title=Voltaire's Jews and Modern Jewish Identity: Rethinking the Enlightenment|last=Mitchell|first=Harvey|date=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134002344|language=en}}</ref> [[Hermann Samuel Reimarus|Reimarus]] embraced da Costa's appeal to have legal status based on the [[Seven Laws of Noah]], when he made an analogous argument that Christian states should be at least as tolerant toward modern [[Deism|Deists]] as ancient Israelites had been.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RvJkAAAAcAAJ&q=acosta&pg=PA188|title=Fragmente des Wolfenbüttelschen Ungenannten. Hrsg. von Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. 4. Aufl|date=1835|publisher=Sander|edition=1835|language=de|chapter=Von Duldung der Deisten <!--|postscript=. [http://www.hs-augsburg.de/~harsch/germanica/Chronologie/18Jh/Lessing/les_deif.html html]-->}}</ref>

Internally to Judaism, da Costa has been regarded variously as a [[Heresy|heretic]] or as a [[martyr]] against the intolerance of the [[Rabbinic Judaism|Rabbinic]] establishment. He has also been seen as a precursor to [[Baruch Spinoza]] and to modern [[biblical criticism]]. Da Costa had a connection to the Spinoza family through Baruch's mother, Hanna, with both families coming from Porto, in northern Portugal, and might have known each other there. The Spinozas would have known of da Costa in the Jewish community of Amsterdam, of his troubles with the authorities, and his suicide. There is a 1901 imagined portrait of da Costa and the young Spinoza, but a Spinoza biographer, [[Steven Nadler]] describes the painting as "overwrought" and its depiction of Spinoza being instructed by da Costa as "pure fantasy."<ref>Nadler, ''Spinoza, A Life'', 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press 2022, 76, 84</ref> Spinoza was just eight years old when da Costa committed suicide, and he might not have known then about his family's connection to him. However, as an adolescent, he likely learned the details of the public and family scandal.<ref>Israel, Jonathan I. ''Spinoza, Life & Legacy''. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2023, 90</ref>

Da Costa is also indicative of the difficulties faced by many [[New Christian]]s seeking to return to their ancestral Jewish roots upon arriving in an organized Jewish community. As a [[Crypto-Judaism|Crypto-Jew]] in [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberia]], he read the Bible and was impressed by it. Yet upon confronting an organized rabbinic community, he was not equally impressed by the established ritual and religious doctrine of Rabbinical Judaism, such as the [[Oral Torah|Oral Law]].  As da Costa himself pointed out, traditional [[Pharisee]] and Rabbinic doctrine had been contested in the past by the [[Sadducees]] and the [[Karaite Judaism|Karaites]], respectively.

==Works based upon da Costa's life==
[[File:Acosta, Uriel – Repetitio ad D. 41.2, 16th-century – BEIC 15319682.jpg|thumb|''Repetitio ad D. 41.2'', 16th-century manuscript. Real Biblioteca del Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Manuscritos latinos, K.II.2, ff. 522–550.|left]]
* In 1846, in the midst of the [[liberalism|liberal]] milieu that led to the [[Revolutions of 1848]], the [[Germany|German]] writer [[Karl Gutzkow]] (1811–1878) wrote ''Uriel Acosta'', a play about da Costa's life. This would later become the first classic play to be translated into [[Yiddish]], and it was a longtime standard of [[Yiddish theater]]; Uriel Acosta is the signature role of the actor Leo Rafalesco, birth name Leib Rafalovitch, of [[Sholem Aleichem]]'s ''[[Wandering Stars (Aleichem novel)|Wandering Stars]]''. The first translation into Yiddish was by [[Osip Mikhailovich Lerner]], who staged the play at the [[Mariinski Theater]] in [[Odessa]], [[Ukraine]] (then part of [[Russian Empire|Imperial Russia]]) in 1881, shortly after the assassination of [[Tsar]] [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]]. [[Abraham Goldfaden]] rapidly followed with a rival production, an [[operetta]], at Odessa's [[Remesleni Club]]. Georgian composer [[Tamara Vakhvakhishvili]] also composed music for the play.
* [[Israel Rosenberg]] promptly followed with his own translation for a production in [[Łódź]] (in modern-day [[Poland]]). Rosenberg's production starred [[Jacob Pavlovich Adler|Jacob Adler]] in the title role; the play would remain a signature piece in Adler's repertoire to the end of his stage career, the first of the several roles through which he developed the persona that he referred to as "the Grand Jew" (see also Adler's ''Memoir'' in the References below).
* [[Hermann Jellinek]] (brother of [[Adolf Jellinek]]) wrote a book entitled ''Uriel Acosta'' (1848).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8582-jellinek|title=Jellinek |website=www.jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref>
* [[Israel Zangwill]] used the life of Uriel da Costa as one of several fictionalized biographies in his book ''Dreamers of the Ghetto''.
* [[Agustina Bessa-Luís]], Portuguese writer (1922–2019), published in 1984 the novel ''Um Bicho da Terra'' ("An Animal of the Earth") based on da Costa's life.
* [[Ariel Magnus]], Argentine writer, published in 2022 the novel (written in Spanish) ''Uriel y Baruch: El alma de la inmortalidad'' (''Uriel and Baruch: The soul of immortality'' in English), where he recreates Uriel da Costa's final moments, adding the young Spinoza in the scene.

==Writings==
* {{lang|pt|Propostas contra a Tradição}} (Propositions against the Tradition), ca. 1616. An untitled letter addressed to certain Rabbis, opposing their extra-biblical traditions.
* {{lang|pt|Exame das tradições phariseas}} (Examination of Pharisaic Traditions), 1623. Here, Costa argues that the human [[Soul (spirit)|soul]] is not [[Immortality|immortal]]. Translated and published by [[Herman Prins Salomon|H. P. Salomon]] and Sassoon. 
* {{lang|la|Exemplar humanae vitae}} ([[Latin]] for ''Example of a human life''), 1640. Costa's life, questions the authorship of Torah, and expresses trust in natural law.

==See also==
* [[Criticism of Judaism]]
* [[Criticism of the Talmud]]

== Notes ==
<references group="lower-alpha" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Adler, Jacob, ''A Life on the Stage: A Memoir'', translated and with commentary by Lulla Rosenfeld, Knopf, New York, 1999, {{ISBN|0-679-41351-0}}, pp.&nbsp;200 ''et. seq''.
* {{Cite book| url=https://archive.org/details/dieschriftendesu00acos |title= Die Schriften des Uriel da Costa. Mit Einleitung, Übertragung und Regesten |series = Bibliotheca Spinozana; 2 |last=Gebhardt|first=Carl|date=1922 |publisher= Amsterdam, M. Hertzberger | language = de, he, pt, la}}
* [[Jonathan I. Israel|Israel, Jonathan I.]] ''Spinoza, Life & Legacy''. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2023.  {{ISBN|9780198857488}}
* [[Steven Nadler|Nadler, Steven]], ''Spinoza: A Life'', 2nd edition Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2022. {{ISBN|978-1-10844246-6}}
* Nadler, Steven, ''Menasseh ben Israel, Rabbi of Amsterdam'', New Haven, Yale University Press, 2018.
* Osier, Jean-Pierre. ''D'Uriel da Costa à Spinoza''. Paris: Berg International 1983.
* Popkin, Richard H., ''Spinoza'', Oxford, Oneworld Publications, 2004.
* {{Cite book|title=Uriel da Costa e l'Exemplar humanae vitae: testo latino, traduzione italiana, commento storico-filologico|last=Proietti|first=Omero|date=2005|publisher=Quodlibet|isbn=978-88-7462-034-0|edition=1.|series=Spinozana|location=Macerata|hdl = 11393/46352}} (open access).
* Salomon, Herman Prins, and Sassoon, I.S.D., (trans. and intr.), ''Examination of Pharisaic Traditions'' – {{lang|pt|Exame das tradições phariseas}}: ''Facsimile of the Unique Copy in the Royal Library of Copenhagen'', Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1993.
* ''Tradizione e illuminismo in Uriel da Costa. Fonti, temi, questioni dell'''{{lang|pt|Exame das tradiçoẽs phariseas}}, edited by O. Proietti e G. Licata, eum, Macerata 2016 [http://eum.unimc.it/it/catalogo/506-tradizione-e-illuminismo-in-uriel-da-costa Index]

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{NIE Poster|year=1905|Acosta, Gabriel|Uriel da Costa}}
* [http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20131106094221/http://urieldacosta.no.sapo.pt/ International committee Uriel da Costa] {{in lang|pt}}
* Bertao, David. [https://web.archive.org/web/20051105032650/http://www.saudades.org/uriel.html Uriel da Costa] The Tragic Life of Uriel Da Costa
* [https://henryabramson.com/2015/12/22/who-was-uriel-da-costa/ Who Was Uriel Da Costa?] by Dr. Henry [[Henry Abramson]]

{{Philosophical skepticism}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Costa, Uriel Da}}
[[Category:17th-century philosophers]]
[[Category:1580s births]]
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[[Category:Converts to Judaism from Roman Catholicism]]
[[Category:Medieval Jewish philosophers]]
[[Category:Jewish skeptics]]
[[Category:16th-century Sephardi Jews]]
[[Category:17th-century Sephardi Jews]]
[[Category:Suicides by firearm in the Netherlands]]
[[Category:Curiel family]]
[[Category:Yiddish plays|Uriel Acosta]]
[[Category:Critics of Judaism]]
[[Category:Skeptic philosophers]]
[[Category:17th-century Portuguese writers]]
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[[Category:Philosophers of religion]]
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