The Guide for the Perplexed (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading)
By Moses Maimonides and David Taffel
4/5
()
About this ebook
The Guide for the Perplexed is the literary masterpiece of Moses Maimonides, perhaps the greatest Jewish thinker of the Middle Ages if not all time. The work’s historical importance is insured merely by the fact that it was the primary conduit through which the rationalism of Aristotle’s philosophy was transmitted from medieval Arabic high culture to Christian theologians such as Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas. In this way Aristotle was reintroduced into the Western culture to which he has been lost for almost a millennium, and it was through the rediscovery of Aristotle that the first seeds of Renaissance humanism and early modern scientific optimism were sown. But the historical, philosophical, and spiritual importance of The Guide for the Perplexed is so extensive and diverse as to be nearly immeasurable. It is one of the rare perfect jewels of world spiritual literature, a profound and timeless statement of man’s relation to himself, to God, and to society. Yet it is simultaneously, as Maimonides acknowledges in his introduction, an intellectual labyrinth, permeated by contradiction. It offers modern readers, like their medieval predecessors, a stiff challenge: do you have the tenacity to penetrate the interrelated paradoxes of The Guide for the Perplexed, the mind, and the universe in order to join the fortunate few who have glimpsed the ultimate truths of existence?
Moses Maimonides
Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon 1138-1204) was born in Cordoba, Spain, but spent his most formative and productive years in Cairo, where he developed an enviable medical practice. He was appointed as the court physician to the Grand Vizier Al Qadi al Fadil, and thereafter to the Sultan Saladin. He continued to serve as the royal physician to the Sultan Saladin’s son. In addition to being an admirable physician, he was also an important philosopher. Through the environment provided by Arabic culture he had access to classical Greek philosophy and medical writings.
Read more from Moses Maimonides
Guide for the perplexed Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJewish Men Pray: Words of Yearning, Praise, Petition, Gratitude and Wonder from Traditional and Contemporary Sources Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGreat Philosophers Volume Two: Science and Philosophy, The Preservation of Youth, and Understanding History Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The Guide for the Perplexed Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Preservation of Youth: Essays on Health Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Guide of the Perplexed, Volume 1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Guide of the Perplexed, Volume 2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to The Guide for the Perplexed (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading)
Related ebooks
The Guide for the Perplexed Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Guide for the Perplexed: Easy to Read Layout Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMaimonides: A Biography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Out-of-Body Travel Foundation Journal: Moses Maimonides, Forgotten Jewish Mystic - Issue Twenty Five Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Book of Splendours: The Inner Mysteries of Qabalism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Les Miserables Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Anatomy of Melancholy (Volume I of III) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsArabian Society In The Middle Ages Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Essays of Montaigne Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTransforming the World: The Jewish Impact on Modernity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wizard by H. Rider Haggard - Delphi Classics (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wizard: "Truly wealth, which men spend all their lives in acquiring, is a valueless thing at the last." Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStories of the Prophets (Before the Exile) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSeneca's Letters from a Stoic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Les Miserables: The Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMuhammad and His Power (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBooks Fatal To Their Authors Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLes Misérables (Dream Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wrong Box Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTranscendental Magic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Museographs The Art of Islam: A Survey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJoseph Karo and Shaping of Modern Jewish Law: The Early Modern Ottoman and Global Settings Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsArabian Society in the Middle Ages: Studies From The Thousand and One Nights Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAshkenazic Jewry in Transition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Essential Novelists - Victor Hugo: master of french romanticism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMoses: The Epic Story of His Rebellion in the Court of Egypt Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Memoirs of a Dervish: Sufis, Mystics and the Sixties Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Mansi: A Rare Man in his Own Way Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLes Miserables (Fully Illustrated Unabridged Hapgood Translation) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDevotions Upon Emergent Occasions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Judaism For You
Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Sacred Texts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Rational Bible: Genesis Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Practical Qabalah Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Tanach, the Jewish Bible in English translation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Living a Jewish Life, Revised and Updated: Jewish Traditions, Customs, and Values for Today's Families Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Jewish Gospels: The Story of the Jewish Christ Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World--and Why Their Differences Matter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary and Analysis of Man's Search for Meaning: Based on the Book by Victor E. Frankl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Essential Judaism: A Complete Guide to Beliefs, Customs & Rituals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5History of the Jews Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why the Jews?: The Reason for Antisemitism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic & Mysticism: Second Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of Jubilees Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rational Bible: Exodus Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I and Thou Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Temple Mysticism: An Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kabbalah & Astrology: The Secrets Of Your Birthday Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anne Frank Remembered Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Torah: The first five books of the Hebrew bible Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Books of Enoch Collection Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The Tanakh: The Jewish Bible – The Holy Scriptures According to the Masoretic Text Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Zohar: Annotations to the Ashlag Commentary Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A History of the Jews: The Indestructible Jews, The Jews in America, and Appointment in Jerusalem Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of Bible Translation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for The Guide for the Perplexed (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading)
58 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Looking to reconcile Aristotelian philosophy and Jewish theology, Moses Maimonides wrote The Guide for the Perplexed. A three part letter to his student, the book was influential not only to Jewish thought but Christian and Islamic thought throughout the Middle Ages while still giving those in the 21st Century insights to consider.The first part focuses on Maimonides arguing against the anthropomorphism of God, basically stating God is incorporeal, and all references in the Bible to God doing physical things are essentially figurative language to allow the human mind to understand the works of God. This leads into a discussion by Maimonides that states that God cannot be described in positive terms only negative conceptions because while positive terms put limits on God, the negative does not. This leads into a discussion of philosophy and mysticism of various kinds. The second part begins on Maimonides expounding on the physical structure of the universe, an essentially Aristotelian world-view, which eventually leads into a debate on if the universe is eternal or created. Though Maimonides admits that Aristotle’s arguments for an eternal universe are better, Divine Revelation decides the matter. Maimonides then expounds on the Creation presented in Genesis and theories on the possible end of the world. The last part is explained as the climax of the whole work as Maimonides expounds on the mystical passage of the Chariot found in Ezekiel, which isn’t supposed to be directly taught only hinted at though over time direct instruction has become the normal. This is followed by analysis of the moral aspects of the universe and explaining the reasons for the 613 laws in the Torah. Maimonides ends the book with how God is worshipped correctly, through wisdom.The comparison of and thesis of complimenting of long held Jewish theological thought and Aristotelian philosophy by Maimonides could have been hard to follow, the text was more than readable and thus the arguments very understandable. While his arguments and logic are insight and enlightening, Maimonides is yet another religious individual who has married ‘pagan’ philosophy with divine revelation to the determinant of the latter like many of his Christian contemporaries were doing and their predecessors before them and many would do after. This is the book’s biggest flaw, but instead of being a reason not to read it is the main one to read it and thus understand the arguments of those who want to merge two separate worldviews into one.The Guide for the Perplexed was intended by Maimonides for learned individuals to give his view on philosophy more than theology, however the two could not be connected within the text. While I do not adhere to the vast majority of the thoughts the author expounded upon, the insight into medieval thought were invaluable and insightful.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wow! If I could gice more stars to this book, I would. Moreh Nevuchim helps to dispel common misconceptions people have over passages in the Torah/Bible. Ultimately, the goal of Rambam, is to help the reader achieve a level where they can have a true knowledge of Hashem, and to dispel of preconceived ideas of Hashem which ultimately lead to avodah zara. The english in this version of the book is a bit archaic, so you might to read Shlomo Pines version, which I plan to do next.