Maimonides and St. Thomas on the Limits of Reason PDF
Preview Maimonides and St. Thomas on the Limits of Reason
cover next page > title: Maimonides and St. Thomas On the Limits of Reason SUNY Series in Philosophy author: Dobbs-Weinstein, Idit. publisher: State University of New York Press isbn10 | asin: 0791424154 print isbn13: 9780791424155 ebook isbn13: 9780585045863 language: English subject Maimonides, Moses,--1135-1204, Thomas,--Aquinas, Saint,--1225?-1274, Philosophy, Medieval, Faith and reason. publication date: 1995 lcc: B759.M34D62 1995eb ddc: 181/.06 subject: Maimonides, Moses,--1135-1204, Thomas,--Aquinas, Saint,--1225?-1274, Philosophy, Medieval, Faith and reason. cover next page > If you like this book, buy it! < previous page page_i next page > Page i Maimonides and St. Thomas on the Limits of Reason < previous page page_i next page > If you like this book, buy it! < previous page page_ii next page > Page ii SUNY SERIES IN PHILOSOPHY GEORGE R. LUCAS, JR., EDITOR < previous page page_ii next page > If you like this book, buy it! < previous page page_iii next page > Page iii Maimonides and St. Thomas on the Limits of Reason Idit Dobbs-Weinstein STATE UNIVERSITYOF NEW YORK PRESS < previous page page_iii next page > If you like this book, buy it! < previous page page_iv next page > Page iv Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 1995 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address State University of New York Press, State University Plaza, Albany, N.Y. 12246 Production by M. R. Mulholland Marketing by Dana E. Yanulavich Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dobbs-Weinstein, Idit, 1950- Maimonides and St. Thomas on the limits of reason / Idit Dobbs -Weinstein. p. cm. (SUNY series in philosophy) Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN 0-7914-2415-4 (alk. paper). ISBN 0-7914-2416-2 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Maimonides, Moses, 1135-1204. 2. Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, 1225?-1274. 3. Philosophy, Medieval. 4. Faith and reason. I. Title. II. Title: Maimonides and Saint Thomas on the limits of reason. III. Series. B759.M34D62 1995 181´.06dc20 94-3369 CIP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 < previous page page_iv next page > If you like this book, buy it! < previous page page_v next page > Page v In Memory of my Father Ephraim (Alfred) Weinstein (19101984) < previous page page_v next page > If you like this book, buy it! < previous page page_vii next page > Page vii Contents Apologia and Acknowledgments ix Abbreviations xi Introduction 1 1. Maimonides and Aquinas as Interpreters 13 13 The Development of Philosophical, Biblical Exegesis 16 Maimonides' and Aquinas' Approaches to Interpretation 20 Interpretation as a Philosophical Practice 2. The Book of Job 39 39 Early Approaches to the Book of Job 41 The Nature of the Inquiry 45 Maimonides' Account of Job 52 Aquinas' Exposition on Job 3. The Account of the Beginning or Creation 61 61 Introduction 63 Maimonides' Arguments for Creation 76 Aquinas' Arguments for Creation 4. Matter, Privation, and Evil 89 89 Introduction 90 Maimonides' Ambivalence Toward Matter 102 Aquinas' Understanding of Matter, Privation, and Evil 5. Natural Human Perfection and Its Limits 113 113 Introduction 115 The Nature of the Human Soul According to Maimonides 126 Aquinas and the Harmony of the Soul 138 Conclusion 6. Divine Law as a Perfection of Philosophical Ethics 141 141 Introduction 142 The Limits of Philosophical Ethics According to Maimonides 146 Divine Sanction as Universal Imperative < previous page page_vii next page > If you like this book, buy it! < previous page page_viii next page > Page viii 155 The Limits of Legislative Reason 160 The Displacement of Legislative Reason by Divine Law 168 Conclusion 7. Hubris, Knowledge, and Provident Participation 171 171 Introduction 172 The Problem of Job 178 Modes of Participating Providence 185 Conclusion: Excess and Reticence Endnotes 199 Bibliography 261 Name Index 273 Subject Index 275 < previous page page_viii next page > If you like this book, buy it! < previous page page_ix next page > Page ix Apologia and Acknowledgments In a manner of speaking, this book has its origin in my early childhood or, more precisely, in my first encounter with the Disaster (Shoah). My continued preoccupation with the history of philosophy, or with philosophy's appropriations and suppressions of its history, is, quite simply, the manifestation of an attempt to understand the irreducible tension between reason and ethics, the true and the good or just, precisely in the face of Modernity's attempt to conceal such a tension by reducing truth to certainty and justice to its practical application. Modernity's failure to accomplish its theoretical promise or fulfill its practical end, freeing "Humanity" from its dogmatic slumber and theologico-political bondage, when it is coupled (as it should be) with the triumph of the progressive, instrumental rationality manifest in this century's "Disaster," demand a response. Indeed, numerous responses have been forthcoming. Ironically, most, if not all, of them, "Analytic'' as well as "Continental," subscribe to Modernity's judgment about medieval philosophy and, hence, either ignore it altogether or ignore significant, non- Western, silenced aspects of it, including those whose influence upon the Christian, Latin tradition are necessary for understanding the Western philosophical tradition. Rather than attempt either to escape reason's disastrous consequences into some other, more humane discourse, "create" an entirely new philosophy, or persevere in a belief in an as yet to be fulfilled progress, in this book I seek to retrieve reflections on the limits of reason and their consequences for the possibilities of knowledge and action by two, major medieval philosophers, Moses Maimonides and St. Thomas Aquinas. Rather than being idiosyncratic, the choice of retrieving the "dialogue" between the non-Western, Jewish Maimonides and the Western, Christian Aquinas renders possible an appreciation of the importance of occluded aspects of the premodern philosophical tradition for understanding the Western tradition and for "discovering" its silenced possibilities. Owing to the long history of the book gestation, I owe debts of gratitude to more individuals than I can probably recall, especially to former teachers, colleagues and students. To the late John Brückmann I am indebted for his encouragements to pursue graduate work in medieval philosophy, in general, the influence of Maimonides on Thomas Aquinas, in particular. To the late Frank (Ephraim) Talmage and to James P. Reilly, Jr., I am indebted for their dedicated supervision of my advanced graduate work. To the late David Rapport Lachterman, I am indebted for many long, inspiring conversations < previous page page_ix next page > If you like this book, buy it!
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