Metaphysical Explanation and “Partcularization” in Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed
Journal of Philosophical Research 17:189-213 (1992)
| Abstract | Within The Guide of the Perplexed Maimonides presents an argument that is intended to render probable the temporal creation of the cosmos. In one of these arguments Maimonides adopts the Kalamic strategy of arguing for the necessity of there being a “particularizing” agent. Maimonides argues that even one who grants Aristotelian science can still ask why the heavenly realm is as it is, to which there is no reply forthcoming but “God so willed it.” The argument is effective against the Arabic Neoplatonic Aristotelians, but not against Aristotle himself. Aristotle’s response to Maimonides would be that the latter is in effect asking, “Why are there the essences there are?”, a question that Aristotle would take to be fundamentally misplaced, since he holds that the existence of the theoretical primitives of every science is to be assumed. Nevertheless, Maimonides’ challenge has force for those who recognize a demand for a metaphysical explanation for there being those kinds of things posited as primitive by the natural sciences | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,653 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesMoses Maimonides & Salo Wittmayer Baron (eds.) (1941/1966). Essays on Maimonides. New York, Ams Press.
Allan Nadler (2007). The "Rambam Revival" in Early Modern Jewish Thought Maskilim, Mitnagdim, and Hasidim on Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed. In Jay Michael Harris (ed.), Maimonides After 800 Years: Essays on Maimonides and His Influence. Distributed by Harvard University Press.
Lawrence Kaplan (2007). Monotonically Decreasing Esoterism and the Purpose of The Guide of the Perplexed. In Jay Michael Harris (ed.), Maimonides After 800 Years: Essays on Maimonides and His Influence. Distributed by Harvard University Press.
Joshua Parens (2006). Leaving the Garden. Philosophy and Theology 18 (2):219-246.
Daniel H. Frank (2002). The Development of Maimonides' Moral Psychology. American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 76 (1):89-105.
Kenneth Seeskin (2002). Sanctity and Silence. American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 76 (1):7-24.
Moses Maimonides (1963). The Guide of the Perplexed. University of Chicago Press.
José Faur (1998). Homo Mysticus: A Guide to Maimonides's Guide for the Perplexed. Syracuse University Press.
Joshua Parens (2003). Maimonidean Ethics Revisited: Development and Asceticism in Maimonides? Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 12 (3):33-62.
Jonathan Jacobs (1997). Plasticity and Perfection: Maimonides and Aristotle on Character. Religious Studies 33 (4):443-454.
Shlomo Pines & Yirmiyahu Yovel (eds.) (1986). Maimonides and Philosophy: Papers Presented at the Sixth Jerusalem Philosophical Encounter, May, 1985. Distributors for the U.S. And Canada, Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Raymond L. Weiss (1991). Maimonides' Ethics: The Encounter of Philosophic and Religious Morality. University of Chicago Press.
Andrew L. Gluck (1998). Maimonides' Arguments for Creation Ex Nihilo in the Guide of the Perplexed. Medieval Philosophy and Theology 7 (02).
Hannah Kasher (2002). Animals as Moral Patients in Maimonides' Teachings. American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 76 (1):165-180.
Analytics
Monthly downloads
Sorry, there are not enough data points to plot this chart.
|
Added to index2011-12-02Total downloads1 ( #274,556 of 548,984 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,327 of 548,984 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
