Maimonides' Ethics: The Encounter of Philosophic and Religious Morality
In this book Raymond L. Weiss examines how a seminal Jewish thinker negotiates the philosophical conflict between Athens and Jerusalem in the crucial area of ethics. Maimonides, a master of both the classical and the biblical-rabbinic traditions, reconciled their differing views of morality primarily in the context of Jewish jurisprudence. Taking into consideration the entire corpus of Maimonides' writings, Weiss focuses on the ethical sections of the Commentary on the Mishnah and the Mishneh...
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In this book Raymond L. Weiss examines how a seminal Jewish thinker negotiates the philosophical conflict between Athens and Jerusalem in the crucial area of ethics. Maimonides, a master of both the classical and the biblical-rabbinic traditions, reconciled their differing views of morality primarily in the context of Jewish jurisprudence. Taking into consideration the entire corpus of Maimonides' writings, Weiss focuses on the ethical sections of the Commentary on the Mishnah and the Mishneh Torah, but also discusses the Guide of the Perplexed, the letters of Maimonides, and his medical works. The gulf between classical philosophy and the Torah made the task of Maimonides extraordinarily difficult. Weiss shows that Maimonides subtly preserves the tension between those traditions while producing a practical accommodation between them. To explain how Maimonides was able to accomplish this twofold goal, Weiss takes seriously the multilevel character of Maimonides' works. Weiss interrupts Maimonides as a heterodox thinker who, with utter integrity, faces the Law's encounter with philosophy and gives both the Torah and philosophy their due. Booknews Papers from the conference on Priority Issues, Publications Services distributes for the Australian Institution of Engineers. No index. Shows how the 12th-century Hebrew scholar integrated the philosophical systems of Athens and Jerusalem without violating the spirit of either or downplaying their essential incompatibility. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Acknowledgments Abbreviations and a Note on the Text Introduction I. The Commentary on the Mishnah 1. Eight Chapters: The Adaptation of Philosophic Ethics to the Jewish Community 2. The Religious Morality: Piety 3. Philosophic Ethics and the Commandments II. The Mishneh Torah 4. Introduction to the Ethics of the Code 5. The "Laws Concerning Character Traits" (Hilkhot De'ot): Philosophic Ethics and Piety 6. The Commandments in the "Laws Concerning Character Traits" 7. Additional Moral and Religious Teachings in the Code III. The Guide of the Perplexed 8. Some Ethical Issues in the Guide Towards an Overview: Theoria and PraxisAppendix 1: Torah and Mitsvah Appendix 2: The Noahidic Commandments Select Bibliography Index of Maimonidean Passages General Index
\ BooknewsPapers from the conference on Priority Issues, Publications Services distributes for the Australian Institution of Engineers. No index. Shows how the 12th-century Hebrew scholar integrated the philosophical systems of Athens and Jerusalem without violating the spirit of either or downplaying their essential incompatibility. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)\ \
