PHIL 1762 - THE GUIDE OF THE PERPLEXED

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
Moses Maimonides (1138-1204) was the greatest Jewish thinker of the medieval period, and remains highly influential today. Born in Spain, he became the leading rabbinic authority of his time by writing a compendium of Jewish law, the Mishnah Torah. He was also famous as a physician and author of medical works. His widest impact, however, has been through his masterpiece of philosophy of religion, The Guide of the Perplexed. This engaging, elusive book is important not only for its influence on such major thinkers as Aquinas, Spinoza, Leibniz, and Newton, but also for its insight into questions of religion and rationality. In this course we will study virtually all of the Guide, giving special attention to Maimonides' account of the fall, his theory of religious language, his arguments for the existence of god, his doctrine of creation, his teachings on religious experience, prophecy, and revelation, and his views on human perfection and immortality. In our sessions we will work closely and carefully through the text, at each step following up Maimonides' hints and challenges to his readers. Our goal will be not merely to appreciate the surface purport of the book, but also to discern its deeper implications, through which Maimonides sought to suggest, to a few of his readers, the secret meaning of the bible itself.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: Letter Grade

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