Abstract

A systematic investigation of Maimonides' writings about the soul was conducted for the purpose of identifying the methods Maimonides employed for changing and developing the soul. ;The writings identified by previous researchers as containing information relevant to psychology and study of the soul were: Guide to the Perplexed, Eight Chapters, Sefer Hammadda, Commentary to Avos, Regimen Sanitatis, Treatise on Asthma, Medical Aphorisms of Moses, and Poisons and Antidotes. All of these except for the Guide to the Perplexed, due to its esoteric nature, were examined in this research. Search categories were developed from Maimonides' definition of the soul in Eight Chapters. Using these categories as the focal point in combination with a broad definition of therapy Maimonides' methods of soul change and healing were extracted. ;A review of the literature which discusses the psychological system of Maimonides falls into two groupings: those which maintain that Maimonides' ideas foreshadow modern psychology, and those which maintain there is no connection between modern psychology and Maimonides' ideas. Authors who maintained Maimonides foreshadowed modern psychology asserted that his ideas correspond to psychoanalysis and behavior therapy. ;These extracted methods from each of his writings were organized by the specific writing according to the categories. The extracted methods indicate that Maimonides dealt with every aspect of the soul and used a great variety of approaches to the benefit of his patients. The extracted material was then compared to techniques of modern therapies to see if congruencies existed between Maimonides' approach and that of modern psychologies, psychoanalysis and behavioral approaches, as had been asserted by other writers. ;The hypothesis that Maimonides was a forerunner of psychoanalysis is untenable, because the varied methodologies of Maimonides do not approach any similarities to the methodologies of psychoanalysis. While this research found an extensive emphasis on behavioral approaches to the soul, Maimonides' focus upon the mental processes make it untenable to classify the methods Maimonides used as those characteristic of behavior therapy. This research did find much that was congruent with one method of cognitive behavior therapy, namely rational emotive therapy