{"product_id":"maimonides-the-rationalist-9781906764777","title":"Maimonides the Rationalist","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eMaimonides was not the first rabbinic scholar to take an interest in philosophy, but he was unique in being a towering figure in both areas. His law code, the \u003ci\u003eMishneh torah\u003c\/i\u003e, stands with Rashi's commentary on the Babylonian Talmud as one of the two most intensely studied rabbinic works coming out of the Middle Ages, while his \u003ci\u003eGuide of the Perplexed \u003c\/i\u003eis the most influential and widely read Jewish philosophical work ever written.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eAdmirers and critics have arrived at wildly divergent perceptions of the man. We have Maimonides the atheist or agnostic, Maimonides the sceptic, Maimonides the deist, Maimonides the Aristotelian, the Averroist, or proto-Kantian. We have a Maimonides seduced by the blandishments of 'accursed philosophy'; a Maimonides who sowed the seeds that led to Spanish Jews' loss of faith and mass apostasy and who was therefore responsible for the demise of Spanish Jewry; a Maimonides who incorporated philosophical elements into his rabbinic works and wrote the \u003ci\u003eGuide of the Perplexed \u003c\/i\u003enot to propagate doctrines to which he was personally committed but in order to rescue errant souls seduced by philosophy; a Maimonides who was the defender of the faith and defined the articles of Jewish belief for all time.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eIn his own estimation, Maimonides was neither exclusively a dedicated philosopher nor exclusively a devoted rabbinist: he saw philosophy and the Written and Oral Torahs as a single, harmonious domain, and he believed that this view was similarly fundamental to the lives of the prophets and rabbis of old. In this book, Herbert Davidson examines Maimonides’ efforts to reconstitute this all-embracing, rationalist worldview that he felt had been lost during the millennium-long exile.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReviews 'Not surprisingly, this book is a major contribution to Maimonidean studies and to the history of medieval Jewish philosophy generally.'\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAleph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Davidson contributes much to the understanding of Maimonides ... recommended for all students of Maimonides and religious thought.'\u003cbr\u003eStephen D. Benin, \u003ci\u003eReligious Studies Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eNote on Transliteration\u003cbr\u003eAbbreviations and Note on Sources\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e1           The Study of Philosophy as a Religious Obligation\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e2          The First Two Positive Divine Commandments\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eThe 613 Commandments • Four Writers on the Commandments Prior to Maimonides • Maimonides • What Followed\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e3          Maimonides' Knowledge of the Philosophical Literature in his Rabbinic Period\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eBackground • Neoplatonism • Kalam • Aristotle • The Arabic Aristotelians • Summary\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e4          Maimonides' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eEight Chapters\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e and Alfarabi's \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eFusul Muntazaa\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e5          Maimonides' Knowledge of the Philosophical Literature of his Later Period\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eKalam • Aristotle • The Commentators on Aristotle • Other Greek Philosophers • The Arabic Philosophers • Medieval Jewish Thinkers • Summary\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e6          Maimonides on Metaphysical Knowledge\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eIntroduction • Alfarabi's Lost Commentary on the \u003ci\u003eNicomachean Ethics\u003c\/i\u003e • Ibn    Bajja's Positionon Metaphysical Knowledge • The \u003ci\u003eGuide for the Perplexed\u003c\/i\u003e on Metaphysical Knowledge • The Active Intellect as the Form that the Human Intellect Thinks; Conjunction with the Active Intellect • The Manner Whereby Metaphysical Knowledge Can Be Acquired • Summary\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e7          A Problematic Sentence in \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eGuide for the Perplexed\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e, ii. 24\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eThe Setting • The Problematic Sentence • Ibn Tibbon's Emendation • Other Proposed Solutions • The Solution\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e8          Maimonides' Ethical Systems\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eCommentary on the Mishnah; the Eight Chapters • The \u003ci\u003eMishneh torah\u003c\/i\u003e • The   \u003ci\u003eGuide for the Perplexed\u003c\/i\u003e • Possible Explanations • The Closing Paragraphs of the \u003ci\u003eGuide for the Perplexed\u003c\/i\u003e • Summary\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e9          Maimonides the Rationalist\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eRationalist Exegesis of Scripture • Rationalist Exegesis of Aggadah • Rationalism and Halakhah • Monotheism and History • Intellectual Worship of God\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWorks Cited\u003cbr\u003eIndex\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Liverpool University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51771772305751,"sku":"9781906764777","price":22.94,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781906764777.jpg?v=1758729025","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/maimonides-the-rationalist-9781906764777","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}