what was unique about maimonides

Maimonides is a medieval Jewish philosopher

with considerable influence on Jewish thought, and on philosophy in general. Maimonides also was an important codifier of Jewish law. His views and writings hold a prominent place in Jewish intellectual history.

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What is Maimonides best known for?

Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (/ maɪˈmɒnɪdiːz / my-MON-i-deez) and also referred to by the acronym Rambam (Hebrew: רמב״ם ‎), was a medieval Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars of the Middle Ages.

Was Maimonides a crypto-Jewish philosopher?

The evidence suggests that they must have lived for years as crypto-Jews — outwardly feigning adherence to Islam while secretly abiding by Jewish law. In Fez, Maimonides not only continued his study of Torah, science, philosophy and medicine, but also deepened his reading of Islamic law and thought.

Was Maimonides an Aristotelean philosopher?

Maimonides’ philosophy was distinctly Aristotelean. Maimonides’ 14-volume work, the Mishneh Torah (“Second to the Torah”) is a detailed accounting of medieval Jewish observance. It was meant to be a comprehensive record of the oral law that explained and expounded upon the written law of Scripture.

What does Maimonides mean by God governs nature?

As God governs nature, so Maimonides thinks, the wise ruler will attempt to govern society. It is true, as Maimonides says many times, that Jewish law does not ask people to live as hermits, starve themselves, beat themselves, or jeopardize their health.

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What was Maimonides known for?

Well known for his philosophical writings, such as The Guide for the Perplexed, Maimonides codified Jewish law and revolutionized Jewish thinking. This review of his life and achievements provides insight into the world of a remarkable 12th-century physician and may offer valuable lessons for physicians today.

Who was Moses Maimonides and what was his major achievement?

Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (/maɪˈmɒnɪdiːz/) and also referred to by the acronym Rambam (Hebrew: רמב״ם), was a medieval Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars of the Middle Ages.

How many principles did Maimonides develop?

Maimonides --also known as Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, or Rambam--compiled and composed the thirteen principles of Jewish faith. He is often compared in greatness to Moses and towers above his peers among medieval Jewish thinkers and leaders.

What was the major literary work of Maimonides?

He is best known for three monumental, nearly encyclopedic works, the Commentary on the Mishnah, the Mishneh Torah and the Guide of the Perplexed. From the standpoint of political philosophy, it is what Maimonides says or suggests about the relationship between the Law and philosophy that is especially significant.

What did Maimonides say about the Messiah?

Belief in the future advent of the Messiah is one of the fundamental requisites of the Jewish faith, concerning which Maimonides has written: "Anyone who does not believe in him, or who does not wait for his arrival, has not merely denied the other prophets, but has also denied the Torah and Moses, our Rabbi."

What is the meaning of Maimonides?

Definitions of Maimonides. Spanish philosopher considered the greatest Jewish scholar of the Middle Ages who codified Jewish law in the Talmud (1135-1204) synonyms: Moses Maimonides, Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon. example of: philosopher.

What books did Maimonides write?

Mishneh TorahThe Guide for the Perplexed1190Sefer HamitzvotThe 8 Chapters Of The Ramb...The Book of Knowledge: From the...Thirteen Principles of FaithMaimonides/Books

Who wrote the Torah?

The Talmud holds that the Torah was written by Moses, with the exception of the last eight verses of Deuteronomy, describing his death and burial, being written by Joshua. Alternatively, Rashi quotes from the Talmud that, "God spoke them, and Moses wrote them with tears".

Why did Maimonides write Guide of the Perplexed?

According to Maimonides, he wrote the Guide "to enlighten a religious man who has been trained to believe in the truth of our holy Law, who conscientiously fulfills his moral and religious duties, and at the same time has been successful in his philosophical studies."

Who is the patriarch to whom the Torah is traditionally attributed?

Composition. The Talmud holds that the Torah was written by Moses, with the exception of the last eight verses of Deuteronomy, describing his death and burial, being written by Joshua.

Was Maimonides married?

From 1177 onwards, Maimonides also held the position as leader of the Jewish community in Fustat. He married twice; in the second marriage, a son, Abraham, was born.

What language did Maimonides write in?

ArabicArabic, Hebrew and Aramaic were the languages with which Maimonides was familiar, but his familiarity with them was of different kinds. Arabic he read, wrote and spoke; Hebrew he read and wrote;15 Aramaic he only read.

How many books make up the Torah?

five booksThe five books making up the Torah are Be-reshit, Shemot, Va-yikra, Be-midbar and Devarim, which in the English Bible correspond to Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

What culture did Maimonides live in?

As is the case for several other important medieval Jewish philosophers, the larger intellectual culture in which Maimonides lived and worked was Islamic rather than Christian. Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon)was born in Cordoba, Spain, and within a few years his family felt the need to flee persecution.

What was Maimonides's philosophy?

He wrote to Maimonides for guidance on how to reconcile, or not, those two commitments.

How did Maimonides influence Aristotle?

There are many respects in which Maimonides’ philosophy borrows from Aristotle. Maimonides noted that he esteemed Aristotle’s philosophical achievement as the pinnacle of unaided reason. In addition, Islamic philosophers, much of whose thought owed a great deal to Aristotle, influenced Maimonides (see Ibn Rush (Averroes), Avicenna (Ibn Sin)). Their Aristotelianism often involved elements of Platonism, interwoven in often complex ways. Still, it is clear that from metaphysics to logic to philosophical anthropology to ethics, Maimonides used many of Aristotle’s concepts and philosophical categories. However, he often used them in un-Aristotelian ways, ways shaped by Maimonides’ guiding concerns, which were not always shared by Aristotle. For instance, freedom of the will was vitally important to Maimonides because of its significance in regard to following, or not following, the commandments. Maimonides’ conception of the virtues differed from Aristotle’s in many respects on account of Maimonides’ concern with holiness.

What were the two religions that Maimonides lived in?

2. Judaism and Philosophy . During the period when Maimonides lived, a small number of Islamic thinkers were attached to sultanates in something like a position of ‘court philosopher,’ to build libraries, increase knowledge, and preserve the ancient inheritance.

What is Maimonides' view of prophecy?

Maimonides’ view is, in a broad sense, a naturalistic conception of prophecy. The connection between the prophet and the Agent Intellect is not made by an act of God; God can block prophecy but an individual meets the conditions for prophecy on epistemological terms, so to speak, not through divine intervention. In Maimonides’ view the prophet does not have a mysterious experience or an extraordinary faculty. Still, to be effective as a prophet, the person must also be able to apply their higher understanding effectively and that involves the kind of concrete detail that can only come from imagination.In discussing prophecy Maimonides presented three main positions on the issue. They are: 1 God can make anyone a prophet. (This is the vulgar view.) 2 Prophecy is a perfection involving the height of intellectual, imaginative capacities, and moral character. (This is the philosophical view.) 3 Prophecy is as the philosophical view maintains, but God, through performance of a miracle, can prevent a suitably virtuous person from becoming a prophet. (This, Maimonides says, is the Jewish view.)

What is Maimonides' negative theology?

Maimonides’ negative theology is complemented by other elements of his epistemology. For example, he held that there are significant limitations on what human beings can demonstrate scientifically. We cannot, he thought, have demonstrative knowledge of astronomy though we can have demonstrable knowledge of sublunar physics. Recall that many ancient and medieval thinkers held that there is a real difference between the sublunar and supralunar realms. It was thought that the two realms are intelligible through different principles because the natures of the entities in them are different. Aristotle had held that, though the two realms are different, it is possible to have demonstrative knowledge of each of them.

Why was freedom of the will important to Maimonides?

For instance, freedom of the will was vitally important to Maimonides because of its significance in regard to following, or not following, the commandments. Maimonides’ conception of the virtues differed from Aristotle’s in many respects on account of Maimonides’ concern with holiness.

What did Maimonides study?

In Fez, Maimonides not only continued his study of Torah, science, philosophy and medicine , but also deepened his reading of Islamic law and thought. Sign up here for “There Was None Like Maimonides,” My Jewish Learning’s email series about the legendary Jewish thinker. After five years in Fez, the family left for the land of Israel in 1165.

Where was Maimonides born?

Maimonides was born in 1138 in Cordoba, al-Andalus, as Islamic Spain was then called. When he was a young lad, the land was overrun and occupied by the Almohads, a Berber dynasty of Islamic revivalists from North Africa who adopted exceedingly harsh policies toward the Christian and Jewish minorities in their realm, ...

Where did the Maimuni family live?

Sometime around 1160, the Maimuni family emigrated to Fez, Morocco, then a center of Islamic learning. The evidence suggests that they must have lived for years as crypto-Jews — outwardly feigning adherence to Islam while secretly abiding by Jewish law. In Fez, Maimonides not only continued his study of Torah, science, philosophy and medicine, ...

Who was the most famous Jew of the premodern age?

A philosopher, physician, rabbinic scholar and more, Maimonides was the most famous Jew of the premodern age. By Ross Brann. My Jewish Learning is a not-for-profit and relies on your help. Donate. Moses Maimonides — known variously as Moses ben Maimon, Rambam, the Great Eagle, and Mūsā b.

What is the purpose of the Mishneh Torah?

The Mishneh Torah drew on and fulfilled the plan, first suggested in the Commentary on the Mishnah, to systematize and organize Jewish law. Following that work, The Code also incorporated a set of 13 essential doctrines, later known as Maimonides’ 13 Principles of Faith, that are incumbent on every Jew to uphold.

What is the purpose of Maimonides' religion?

As he points out time and again, the Torah speaks in the language of ordinary people. If it did not, its appeal would be greatly reduced. But, Maimonides continues, the purpose of the religion is to get one to the point where these things cease to matter and are eventually overcome.

What is the challenge of Maimonides?

We saw that he was guided by the need to systematize. Given 613 original commandments, he argues that all are means to the fulfillment of the first two, which he interprets as belief in the existence of God and rejection of idolatry. [ 4] Together these commandments make up what we call monotheism. From Maimonides’ perspective, however, there is more to monotheism than belief in a single deity. To satisfy the first two commandments, one must believe in a timeless, changeless, immaterial deity who is one in every respect and unlike anything in the created order. A person who fails to recognize such a deity is accorded the status of an idolater no matter how many other commandments she may fulfill or how fervently she may fulfill them. Simply put, to worship God under a false description is not to worship God at all. Not only is this true at present, as Maimonides sees it, it has been true since God first spoke to Adam.

How does Maimonides prove the existence of God?

Rather than begin with a definition of God and try to show that God’s essence implies existence, he begins with a description of the world as we know it and tries to show that it implies the existence of God. According to one such argument, we assume that the heavenly bodies are engaged in eternal motion. We then recognize that it is impossible for there to be an infinite body or an infinite number of finite bodies. So every corporeal thing is finite. If it is finite, it can only contain a finite amount of power. If it can only contain a finite amount of power, it can only explain motion over a finite period of time. Because the heavenly bodies are always moving, the only thing that can explain that motion is an infinite power. Because an infinite power cannot be contained in a finite thing, it cannot be corporeal. If it is not corporeal, it is not subject to division or change. Seeing that its power is infinite, it cannot derive that power from something else. Thus the only way to explain the motion of the heavenly bodies is to posit the existence of a being that is neither a body nor a force in a body.

How to assess Maimonides' philosophy?

How one assesses Maimonides’ philosophy depends on one’s own philosophic view. For a traditional theist like Aquinas, he is right to say that there are issues, e.g. creation, that cannot be resolved by demonstration and to insist that all attempts to anthropomorphize God are misguided. The problem is that in rejecting anthropomorphism, he may have gone too far. If God bears no likeness to the created order, and if terms like wise, powerful, or lives are completely ambiguous when applied to God and us, the conception of divinity we are left with is too thin for the average worshipper to appreciate.

How to explain the motion of the heavenly bodies?

Thus the only way to explain the motion of the heavenly bodies is to posit the existence of a being that is neither a body nor a force in a body. Although Maimonides thinks this argument gives us sufficient grounds for saying that God is, he does not think it provides any grounds for saying what God is.

Where was Maimonides born?

Maimonides was born to a distinguished family in Cordova, Spain in 1138. [ 1] At that point, Cordova was under Muslim rule and stood as one of the great intellectual centers of the world. In addition to Maimonides, it was the birthplace of Averroes. But events took a turn for the worse when the Almohads invaded in 1148 and offered all non-Muslims the choice of conversion, exile, or death. Maimonides’ family was forced to leave Cordova and travel through southern Spain and arrived in Fez, Morocco in 1160. His first philosophic work of note was the Treatise on the Art of Logic. Around this time, he began work on his first religious masterpiece, the Commentary on the Mishnah, which was finished in 1168. It is noteworthy for the emphasis Maimonides places on Oral Torah, by which he means the details, specifications, and interpretations derived from the Written Torah, which was revealed to Moses at Sinai.

Which account of creation does Maimonides reject?

5. Creation. Throughout the Guide, Maimonides considers four accounts of creation: that of the kalam, Moses, Plato, and Aristotle. He rejects the kalam account ( GP 1.71–73) according which one demonstrates that the universe must have been created and then reasons that if it was created, it must have a creator.

How did Maimonides influence Judaism?

Maimonides’ writing and thinking influenced Jewish communities of his time, and his influence is still felt. Many of his writings are readily available today online. His work may be useful to the Christian who is attempting to understand Jewish philosophy and the thoughts that have influenced the shape of Judaism.

What is Maimonides's guide of the perplexed?

In his Guide of the Perplexed, Maimonides attempts to reconcile the Torah with Greek philosophy. The Mishneh Torah and his Guide are considered his greatest and most influential works. Maimonides was also a physician (at one time, in the court of the sultan Saladin). Dr.

What are some examples of wisdom?

Here are some examples of his wisdom: • “A person will never become impoverished from giving charity” ( Matnot Aniyim, 2). • “Truth does not become more true by virtue of the fact that the entire world agrees with it, nor less so even if the whole world disagrees with it.”.

Who was Moses Ben Maimon?

Moses Ben Maimon (1138—1204) is known to English speakers as Maimonides and to Hebrew speakers as Rambam. He was a medieval Jewish philosopher. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy calls him the “greatest Jewish philosopher of the Medieval Period” (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/maimonides, accessed 10/27/2020).

Is Maimonides' advice still good?

Then as now, Judaism has a strong vein of mysticism running through it (i.e., Kabbalah ), but it has also produced many men of science and medicine. Much of Maimonides’ practical advice is still good today. Here are some examples of his wisdom:

What is Maimonides' greatest success?

Maimonides’ greatest success has been so widely accepted that it is rarely recognized as being his: He succeeded in convincing almost all Jews that the God of the Torah has no physical form.

What did Maimonides say about Judaism?

Maimonides also placed Judaism on a firm dogmatic footing with his “ Thirteen Principles of Faith ,” a set of core Jewish beliefs that he asserted all must accept or be branded a heretic. Without Maimonides, it would be impossible to speak of Jewish orthodoxy in any technical sense of the term.

Who is Maimonides' spokesperson?

As dramatically different figures as the Chabad Hasidic leader Menachem Mendel Schneerson and the Orthodox Israeli intellectual Yeshayahu Leibowitz have each claimed to be Maimonides’ legitimate 20th-century spokesperson.

Was Maimonides wrong?

In traditionalist circles, Maimonides cannot be wrong, which leads to some interesting intellectual gymnastics among some Orthodox thinkers who must reconcile his admiration for Aristotle and reliance on the best science of his day with their own reservations about the legitimacy of non-Jewish sources of knowledge.

Some Context and Biography

Judaism and Philosophy

• During the period when Maimonides lived, a small number of Islamic thinkers were attached to sultanates in something like a position of ‘court philosopher,’ to build libraries, increase knowledge, and preserve the ancient inheritance. In the Christian world there were cathedral schools and, by the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, a number of unive...

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The Relation to Aristotle’s Philosophy

Some Fundamental Metaphysical and Epistemological Issues

Maimonides on The Limits of Knowledge

Philosophical Anthropology, Prophecy, and Perfection

Maimonides on Ethical and Intellectual Virtue

Some Key Elements of Moral Epistemology and Moral Psychology

Freedom of The Will, Repentance, and Covenant

The Issue of Esotericism

Life and Works

• Maimonides was born to a distinguished family in Cordova, Spain in 1138.[1] At that point, Cordova was under Muslim rule and stood as one of thegreat intellectual centers of the world. In addition to Maimonides, itwas the birthplace of Averroes. But events took a turn for the worsewhen the Almohads invaded in 1148 and offered all non-Muslims thecho...

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Fundamental Orientation

Demythologized Religion

God and The Via Negativa

Creation

Practical Philosophy

Esotericism

Conclusion