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Maimonides I

7/26/2012. Modern Philosophy PHIL320. 2. Early Period. Born, 1138, Cordoba to family of scholars. Father was a dayan, rabbinical judge.Has good Jewish and scientific education.High degree of acculturation of Jews in Almoravid Spain.Almohad Conquest of Southern SpainLeaves Cordoba in c. 1148Sta

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Maimonides I

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    1. 7/26/2012 Golden Age of Jewish Philosophy 1 Maimonides I Charles Manekin

    2. 7/26/2012 Modern Philosophy PHIL320 2 Early Period Born, 1138, Cordoba to family of scholars. Father was a dayan, rabbinical judge. Has good Jewish and scientific education. High degree of acculturation of Jews in Almoravid Spain. Almohad Conquest of Southern Spain Leaves Cordoba in c. 1148 Stays in Spain, then family goes to Morocco

    3. 7/26/2012 Modern Philosophy PHIL320 3 Early Period Did Maimonides family convert to Islam? Testimony of al-Qifti Possible influence of Almohads Could explain why he was in Fez, capital of the Almohads

    4. 7/26/2012 Modern Philosophy PHIL320 4 Middle Period 1165 Pilgrimage to the Holy Land 1166 Family settles in Egypt 1158-1168 Commentary on Mishnah Philosophical Sections 1168-1178 Mishneh Torah Comprehensive scope Logical structure System of classification Clear Hebrew prose Contains some philosophy

    5. 7/26/2012 Modern Philosophy PHIL320 5 Late Period 1177 Maimonides brother died. Starts to work as a physician in earnest. 1182 Tutors Joseph b. Judah in science and philosophy and imparts the secrets of scripture 1185-1190 Composition of the Guide of the Perplexed.

    6. 7/26/2012 Modern Philosophy PHIL320 6 Last Years From 1185, M becomes court physician. From 1190, M writes textbooks in medicine. 1191 Treatise on Resurrection, following the Resurrection Controversy. Dies in 1204.

    7. 7/26/2012 Modern Philosophy PHIL320 7 Guide of the Perplexed Dedicatory Letter to Joseph, in which Joseph is praised for his eagerness, but told to proceed methodically in his studies. Leitmotiv in the Guide. Introduction: Purpose of the Guide Explain terms and parables in Torah and prophetic writings, also in midrash. Where is the perplexity coming from?

    8. 7/26/2012 Modern Philosophy PHIL320 8 Esotericism Secrets of the Torah Why secret? The Account of the Beginning and the Account of the Chariot How can one explain secrets Techniques Chapter headings Stringing together chapters Contradiction

    9. 7/26/2012 Modern Philosophy PHIL320 9 Esotericism II Varieties of Esotericism Political Esotericism Pedagogic Esotericism The limits of language The limits of knowledge What should we and should we not tell the multitude? Should the Guide be read parabolically?

    10. 7/26/2012 Modern Philosophy PHIL320 10 The Lexicographic Chapters Image and Form What does it mean to be created in Gods image? How does Maimonides purify the concept of God, especially in the first 50 chapters? The Parable of Adam The distinction of true/false and good/bad. What are the two intepretations of the Adam story

    11. 7/26/2012 Modern Philosophy PHIL320 11 The Theory of Terms Maimonides method in the lexicographic chapters Terms Equivocal Ambiguous Univocal Derived The Language of Scripture

    12. 7/26/2012 Modern Philosophy PHIL320 12 Attributes Distinction between Believing and Professing Attributes are either identical with the essence or they are not identical Identical: Man is man, man is a rational being; an explanation of the term. Not identical: Man is a biped. Accidental attributes are clearly not admissible (Why not?)

    13. 7/26/2012 Modern Philosophy PHIL320 13 Five classes of attributes Attributes of real definitions Doesnt indicate compositeness. No good. Attributes of parts of definition Indicate compositeness Attributes of qualities Indicate compositeness Attributes of relations Doesnt indicate compositenss. No good Attributes of actions These work.

    14. 7/26/2012 Modern Philosophy PHIL320 14 What was revealed to Moses Not the Divine Essence but.. All Gods goodness, which is the same as. The way things relate to each other, i.e., their nature Gods ways, which is the same as Gods actions Gods characteristics Why is natural science useful for theology Its teachings show what we must deny of God

    15. 7/26/2012 Modern Philosophy PHIL320 15 No likeness between God and his creatures No likeness between God and creatures because likeness is a kind of relation and there is no relation. So those who say that God has essential attributes (knowledge, power, will, and life) should also concede that these terms are said of God and of us with pure equivocation.

    16. 7/26/2012 Modern Philosophy PHIL320 16 How do we speak about God? When we say that God is one, we do not mean that God possesses the attribute of oneness, that He is one through oneness. Rather, we give the gist of the notion and give the mind the correct direction toward the true reality of the matter when we say, one but not through onenesseternal, though not through time.

    17. 7/26/2012 Modern Philosophy PHIL320 17 Through negation Attributes of negation bring about particularization i.e., they pick out what they are referring to. God has no what outside of his that. They do not imply multiplicity. God exists means that Gods nonexistence is impossible.

    18. 7/26/2012 Modern Philosophy PHIL320 18 Achieving a representation/concept of God through negation Attributes of negation bring about particularization i.e., they pick out what they are referring to. We get nearer to God by understanding what he cannot be. They do not imply multiplicity. But if you affirm positive attributes, you must deny they have likeness to those attributes with respect to us.

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