Simeon Cohen
Jewish Philosophical Texts
Dr. Alan Mittleman
Rabbi Geoffrey Claussen
Maimonidean Rationalism
Maimonides (1135-1204), a Medieval Spanish Rabbi who practiced primarily in Cairo, is one of history’s most influential Jewish intellectuals; not only is he revered as a renowned philosopher, but he left a prolific legacy as both a halakhic codifier and as a physician. Maimonides’ philosophical magnum-opus, and possibly the seminal work of medieval Jewish philosophy, is his somewhat paradoxically perplexing Guide to the Perplexed. Maimonides dedicates the Guide to his pupil, Rabbi Joseph, a young, intellectually curious Jew from Alexandria, who ventured to Cairo to study under the already legendary Maimonides, yet was forced to leave in the midst of his studies in order to tend to his sick father. Before Rabbi Joseph returned to Alexandria, Maimonides introduced his promising young apprentice to the Greek philosophical system; unfortunately, due to the fact that he had to leave such in a hurry, the young Rabbi’s education was left incomplete and his mind left in a state of disarray—in short, he was perplexed. Consequently, Maimonides decided to finish Rabbi Joseph’s education by writing and sending him a Guide to the Perplexed, which would help the young Rabbi’s burgeoning intellect come to terms with everything he was exposed to while in Cairo. The treatise has subsequently enjoyed enormous success and today, it is viewed as the quintessential work of Medieval Jewish Aristotelianism.
The essence of Maimondies’ epic treatise can be ascertained by reading chapter 54 of section 3 of the Guide. The following is an analysis of that chapter and a discussion of what it attempts to convey to its audience and how it ultimately reconciles G ...