Difference between revisions of "Maimonides"
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''"A wise ruler will therefore prescribe actions and moral habits that must be repeated until they are no longer burdensome and become part of a person's character. If a person develops the wrong habits and goes to excess, the ruler "must follow the same course in treating it as in the medical treatment of bodies," which is to reestablish equilibrium".'' ("Eight Chapters", 4). | ''"A wise ruler will therefore prescribe actions and moral habits that must be repeated until they are no longer burdensome and become part of a person's character. If a person develops the wrong habits and goes to excess, the ruler "must follow the same course in treating it as in the medical treatment of bodies," which is to reestablish equilibrium".'' ("Eight Chapters", 4). | ||
| + | ==Arguments for God's existence== | ||
| + | Te second part of the "Moreh" opens with the enumeration of the twenty-six propositions through which are proved the existence, the unity, and the incorporeality of the Primal Cause. For the existence of the Primal Cause there are four proofs: (1) no motion can take place without an agent producing it, and the series of causes leading to a certain motion is finite; (2) since some things both receive and impart motion, while other things are set in motion without imparting it, there must exist a being that imparts motion without being itself set in motion; (3) as existing beings are partly permanent and partly transient, there must be a being whose existence is permanent; (4) nothing can pass from a state of potentiality into that of actuality without the intervention of an agent; this agent requires for its own transition from potentiality to actuality the help of another agent, and the latter, again, of another; and so on until one arrives at an agent that is constant and admits of no potentiality whatever.<ref name="a">http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=905&letter=M#3052</ref> | ||
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| + | The unity of God is proved by the following arguments: (1) Two gods can not be assumed, for they would necessarily have one element in common by virtue of which they would be gods, and another element by which they would be distinguished from each other; further, neither of them could have an independent existence, but both would themselves have to be created. (2) The whole existing world is "one" organic body, the parts of which are interdependent. The sublunary world is dependent upon the forces proceeding from the spheres, so that the whole universe is a macrocosm, and thus the effect must be due to one cause. The incorporeality of God can be proved by the preceding arguments and by the principle that every corporeal object consists of matter and form, and that every compound requires an agent to effect its combination.<ref name="a"/> | ||
== See also == | == See also == | ||
Revision as of 00:36, July 5, 2008
Moses ben Maimon, Maimonides (Cordoba, Spain 1135 - Cairo, Egypt 1204) (Hebrew: Rambam), was a Jewish rabbi, astronomer, and physician. He is regarded by the Jews as a great philosopher, and called the "Lamp of Israel" and the "Eagle of the Doctors"; he was a man of immense learning who expanded greatly upon interpretations of the Talmud (the source of much of Jewish law), and was physician to the Sultan of Egypt.[1] He taught the Jews to interpret their religion in the light of reason; he wrote a "Commentary on the Mishna and the Second Law," but his chief work is the "Moreh Nebochim," or "Guide of the Perplexed" (which had been written in Arabic). [2] The Mishneh Torah, his 14-volume compendium of Jewish law, established him as the leading rabbinic authority of his time and quite possibly of all time.[3] Maimonides also formulated a credo of Judaism expressed in thirteen articles of faith.
- "... no Israelite can have any private interview with me, except on the Sabbath. On that day the whole congregation, or at least the majority of the members, come to me after the morning service, when I instruct them as to their proceedings during the whole week; we study together a little until noon, when they depart. Some of them return, and read with me after the afternoon service until evening prayers. In this manner I spend that day." [4]
He was renowned for his efforts to reach fair judgments. Maimonides also wrote medical treatises on a number of diseases and their cures.
Succeeding generations of philosophers wrote extensive commentaries on his works, which influenced thinkers as diverse as St. Thomas Aquinas, Spinoza, Gottfried Leibniz, and Newton. In concert with Plato and Aristotle, he holds that like the body, the soul can be diseased or healthy... virtue is a habit that can only be developed by practice.
Maimonides died mourned by many congregations in different parts of the world.
- "... morality is not an end in itself but a way of controlling the passions and creating an atmosphere in which science and philosophy can flourish."
Contents
Medical treatment of souls
Acting as a philosopher-physician he wrote:
"A wise ruler will therefore prescribe actions and moral habits that must be repeated until they are no longer burdensome and become part of a person's character. If a person develops the wrong habits and goes to excess, the ruler "must follow the same course in treating it as in the medical treatment of bodies," which is to reestablish equilibrium". ("Eight Chapters", 4).
Arguments for God's existence
Te second part of the "Moreh" opens with the enumeration of the twenty-six propositions through which are proved the existence, the unity, and the incorporeality of the Primal Cause. For the existence of the Primal Cause there are four proofs: (1) no motion can take place without an agent producing it, and the series of causes leading to a certain motion is finite; (2) since some things both receive and impart motion, while other things are set in motion without imparting it, there must exist a being that imparts motion without being itself set in motion; (3) as existing beings are partly permanent and partly transient, there must be a being whose existence is permanent; (4) nothing can pass from a state of potentiality into that of actuality without the intervention of an agent; this agent requires for its own transition from potentiality to actuality the help of another agent, and the latter, again, of another; and so on until one arrives at an agent that is constant and admits of no potentiality whatever.[5]
The unity of God is proved by the following arguments: (1) Two gods can not be assumed, for they would necessarily have one element in common by virtue of which they would be gods, and another element by which they would be distinguished from each other; further, neither of them could have an independent existence, but both would themselves have to be created. (2) The whole existing world is "one" organic body, the parts of which are interdependent. The sublunary world is dependent upon the forces proceeding from the spheres, so that the whole universe is a macrocosm, and thus the effect must be due to one cause. The incorporeality of God can be proved by the preceding arguments and by the principle that every corporeal object consists of matter and form, and that every compound requires an agent to effect its combination.[5]
See also
External links
- Maimonides Religion Facts.
- Maimonides Kenneth Seeskin - Stanford University.
- Maimonides/Rambam
References
- ↑ Interestingly, at various points during their history, the Islamic principalities of the near east allowed Jews to hold high office, ranging from personal physician (like Maimonides) to vizier. However, the tenure of Jews in such high-ranking positions tended to come in and out of vogue with the success of the Islamic state; when the state suffered, the Jews would be blamed, face harsher discrimination, and at times be purged from government and killed. For more information, please read Under Crescent and Cross: the Jews of the Middle Ages, by Mark R. Cohen.
- ↑ Nuttall Encyclopedia of General Knowledge, article on Maimonides, Moses originally published in 1907 written by Reverend James Wood
- ↑ Maimonides
- ↑ Maimonides/Rambam
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=905&letter=M#3052
