This superb abridgement and annotated translation of Maimonides' monumental work includes discussions of divine language, the scope and limits of human knowledge, cosmological doctrines concerning the creation or eternity of the world, prophecy and providence, the nature and purpose of divine law, and moral and political philosophy.
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Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Arabic
Original Language: Arabic
About the Author
Moses Maimonides
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
63 of 67 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Way In To A Great Book,
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This review is from: The Guide of the Perplexed (Hardcover)
Since Amazon is lumping reviews of all 'Guide' translations together, this one is of the Guttman/Rabin translation/abridgement published by Hackett. To me, it might be called a godsend, since I first tried a headlong assault on an unabridged version, which quickly wore me down with its endless examples of words with multple senses and anthropomorphic references to God. Where's the beef? I wondered. This edition gets the novice reader straight to the meaty matters Maimonides considers, such as whether the universe was created or not, what the nature of prophecy is, what can be understood or even said about God, how the Bible can be reconciled to philosophy, and how traditional practices are to be viewed. His answers won't satisfy fundamentalists, either Jewish or Christian, but his discussion is always challenging, and mostly clear-minded (he lost me with many of his thoughts on the spheres, since in this area he was manifestly out of his depth). This abridgement is about 1/4 of the original, but the arrangement has a good, logical flow. The 1940's-early 50's translation is very readable, though the scriptural quotes leave something to be desired in the clear, modern English department. One additional factor that jumps out at me from the text is the sheer force of Maimonides personality. (I have the feeling he wouldn't approve of me studying him, but his work may yet have a salutary effect on my life, reluctant as he would have been to teach someone like me!) Be prepared to meet a great man.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A clear guide to contemporary difficult questions,
By Michael Pen (Boston) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Guide of the Perplexed (Paperback)
I found this book clear and directly related to questions that perplexed me. Often Maimonides' answers are more clear and direct than anything I ever heared. I was most impressed by his explanation for the original sin and for Adam expulsion from paradise. Of course, it had nothing to do with sex. The sin was in that God gave the mind to Adam to think for himself. But thinking is too hard. Adam refused to think. Instead he ate from the tree of knowledge, that is he acquired "shortcuts," "rules of thumb," ready made rules accumulated in culture throughout millenia. These rules are sound and safe, but it is not the ultimate demand of God. In contemporary science language, Adam refused to think by using his cortex (contemporary part of the brain), instead, he learned to use primitive emotions involving amigdala (ancient part of the brain).
5.0 out of 5 stars
Guide of the Perplexed",
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This review is from: The Guide of the Perplexed (Paperback)
I am Jewish.It introduced me to Maimonides but I had to buy the complete,2 volume work from Chicago press.A good condensation.An important thinker weho appeared at an interesting time in world history
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First Sentence:
MOSES BEN MAIMON, commonly called Maimonides (1135-1204), is the leading Jewish thinker of the Middle Ages. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
glorieth glory, active intelligence, intellectual perfection, imaginative faculty Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Active Intelligence, Bereshith Rabba, God Almighty, Mishneh Torah, Baba Bathra, Him Cause, Him Doer New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
MOSES BEN MAIMON, commonly called Maimonides (1135-1204), is the leading Jewish thinker of the Middle Ages. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
glorieth glory, active intelligence, intellectual perfection, imaginative faculty Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Active Intelligence, Bereshith Rabba, God Almighty, Mishneh Torah, Baba Bathra, Him Cause, Him Doer New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 32
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books
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- The Guide of the Perplexed, Vol. 1 by Moses Maimonides on 15 pages
- The Nicomachean Ethics (Oxford World's Classics) by Aristotle in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Jewish Thought: An Introduction by Oliver Leaman in Front Matter (1), and Front Matter (2)
- The Jewish Philosophy Reader by Dan Frank in Front Matter
- Moses Maimonides (Routledge Jewish Studies Series) by Oliver Leaman in Front Matter
See all 32 books this book cites
- The Election of Israel: The Idea of the Chosen People by David Novak on 17 pages
- History of Islamic Philosophy (Routledge History of World Philosophies, V. 1) by Seyyed Hossein Nasr on 15 pages
- Maimonides on the Origin of the World by Kenneth Seeskin on 12 pages
- THE LEGENDS OF THE JEWS - VOL. V: From The Creation to the Exodus by Louis Ginzberg on 11 pages
- Autonomy in Jewish Philosophy by Kenneth Seeskin on 10 pages
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