Sanctity and Silence
American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 76 (1):7-24 (2002)
| Abstract | Maimonides’ negative theology has generated controversy ever since it was advanced in The Guide of the Perplexed. Unlike Aquinas,Maimonides does not allow predication by analogy or anything else that compromises the radical separation between God and creatures. The standard objection to Maimonides is that his view is so extreme that it undermines important features of religious life, most pointedly the institution of prayer. I argue that Maimonides was well aware of the problems caused by negative theology and provides us with ingenious ways to handle them. Overall I attempt to show that for Maimonides, religious language is not referentialbut heuristic: rather than depict the structure of an underlying reality, its function is to prepare the mind for a particular kind of reflection | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | No categories specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,875 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesHilary Putnam (1997). On Negative Theology. Faith and Philosophy 14 (4):407-422.
Moses Maimonides & Salo Wittmayer Baron (eds.) (1941/1966). Essays on Maimonides. New York, Ams Press.
Kenneth Seeskin (2005). Maimonides on the Origin of the World. Cambridge University Press.
Joseph G. Trabbic (2003). Maimonides, Aquinas, and Interreligious Dialogue. Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 77:221-234.
Daniel Davies (2011). Method and Metaphysics in Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed. Oxford University Press.
Diana Lobel (2002). “Silence Is Praise to You”. American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 76 (1):25-49.
Michael Fagenblat (2008). Levinas and Maimonides: From Metaphysics to Ethical Negative Theology. Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 16 (1):95-147.
Don Seeman (2008). Honoring the Divine as Virtue and Practice in Maimonides. Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 16 (2):195-251.
Joshua Parens (2006). Leaving the Garden. Philosophy and Theology 18 (2):219-246.
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.
Owen Goldin (1992). Metaphysical Explanation and “Partcularization” in Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed. Journal of Philosophical Research 17:189-213.
Menachem Kellner (2002). Is Maimonides' Ideal Person Austerely Rationalist? American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 76 (1):125-143.
Kenneth Seeskin (ed.) (2005). The Cambridge Companion to Maimonides. Cambridge University Press.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2011-02-22Total downloads4 ( #180,404 of 556,837 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #64,847 of 556,837 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
