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Summary:

"Maimonides's Guide of the Perplexed (pub. 1204 CE) is among the most important and elusive works in the history of Judaism. Among the greatest difficulties has been determining what genre of writing it belongs to. Leo Strauss challenged the contemporary consensus that it is a work of "Jewish philosophy." Rather, the Guide Is first and foremost a defense of the Law, or what his predecessor, whom he praised highly, Alfarabi identified as the art of kalam or dialectical theology. However, It is an unusual sort of kalam, which Strauss dubbed "intelligent kalam." Since Shlomo Pines's 1979 article on the limits of knowledge in Maimonides (as well as Alfarabi and Ibn Bajja), much of Maimonides scholarship has centered on these limits. In his book on the Guide published in 2013, Josef Stern identified two extremes on the limits of knowledge, the dogmatic and the skeptical. He expanded on Pines's skeptical reading. We provide a middle ground between these two extremes. We argue that the limits are intentionally vague, making possible thereby not only a defense of the Law but also a defense of philosophy. The second part concerns the three great themes of the Guide: creation, prophecy, and providence. Maimonides's preferred position on prophecy is that God can will to prevent it. It is unlikely to be coincidental that obstacles, impediments, prevention are also crucial in his accounts of creation and providence. We show that obstacles or privation are a key to these themes and the Guide as a whole."-- [Provided by publisher]

Author/Creator:

Parens, Joshua, 1961- , author

Languages:

English

Language Notes:

Item content: English

Main Work:

Maimonides's "guide" on obstacles to knowledge, being, and action [by Parens, J.]

Other Related Resources:

Online version: Maimonides's "Guide" on obstacles to knowledge, being, and action [by Parens, J.] (Macon, Georgia : Mercer University Press, [2024] — ISBN 9780881469646; LCCN 2024056613; OCLC Number 1478244951)

Subjects:

Judaism — Works to 1900

Jewish philosophy — Early works to 1800

Philosophy, Medieval

Maimonides, Moses, 1135-1204

General Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Physical Description:

viii, 309 pages ; 23 cm.

Call Numbers:

BM545.D3413 P38 2024

ISBNs:

9780881469639 (paperback)
0881469637
9780881469646 (ebook) [Invalid]

Library of Congress Control Numbers:

2024056612

OCLC Numbers:

1477220117