Not to be confused with E.F._Schumacher's similiarly titled 20th Century philosophical work, The Guide for the Perplexed (Hebrew: "Moreh Nevuchim") is one of the major works of Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, better known as Maimonides, or the Rambam. It is the main source of his philosophical views, as opposed to his opinions on Jewish law.

About the work

The work was written in the 12th century in the form of a letter to his student Obadiah, (a convert to Judaism), but it became popular within Maimonides' lifetime, with many Jewish communities requesting copies of the manuscript. The work is also the most universal, as many of the concepts are not restricted to Judaism, and as such, it has been the work most commonly associated with Maimonides in the non-Jewish world.

The work was written in al issues. According to Maimonides, the main purpose of the work is to expound on Maaseh Bereishit and Maaseh Merkavah (the sections of Jewish mysticism dealing with Creation from Genesis and the passage of the Chariot from Ezekiel), these being the two main mystical texts in the Tanakh. This occurs in the third book. From this perspective, the issues in the first two books are there to provide background and a progression in the mystical and philosophical knowledge required to ponder the climax.

Structure

The work is divided into three books.

Book One

The book begins with Maimonides' thesis against anthropomorphism. In the Bible, one can find many expressions which describe God in human terms, for instance the "hand of God". Maimonides was strongly against what he believed to be a heresy present in unlearned Jews who then assume God to be corporeal (or even possessing positive characteristics).

To explain his belief that this is not the case, Maimonides devoted over 20 chapters in the beginning (and middle) of the first book to analysing Hebrew terms. Each chapter was about a term used to describe God (such as "mighty") and in each case, Maimonides presented a case that the word is a homonym, whereby its usage when describing a physical entity is completely different to when describing God. This was done by close textual analysis of the word in the Tanach in order to present what Maimonides saw as the proof that according to the Tanach, God is completely incorporeal. This leads to Maimonides' notion that God cannot be described in any positive terms, but rather only in negative conceptions. Unrestrained anthropomorphism and perception of positive attributes is seen as a transgression as serious as idolatry, because both are fundamental errors in the metaphysics of God's role universe, and that is the most important aspect of the world.

The first book also contains an analysis of the reasons why philosophy and mysticism are taught late in the Jewish tradition, and only to a few. Maimonides cites many examples of what he sees as the incapability of the masses of understanding these concepts. Thus, approaching them with a mind that is not yet learned in Torah and other Jewish texts, can lead to heresy and the transgressions considered the most serious by Maimonides.

The book ends with Maimonides' exposition and criticism of the Kalam argument for creation ex nihilo and the incorporeality of God. The study of the philosophical works of Muslim scholars contributed to Maimonides as a controversial figure. However, while he accepts the conclusions of the Kalam school (because of their consistency with Judaism), he disagrees with their methods and points out many perceived flaws in their arguments.

Book Two

The book begins with the exposition of the physical structure of the universe, as seen by Maimonides. The world-view asserted in the work is essentially Aristotelian, with a spherical earth in the centre, surrounded by concentric Heavenly Spheres. While Aristotle is disagreed with in terms of his belief in the eternity of the universe, his proofs of the existence of God and his concepts such as the Prime Mover are extensibely borrowed from.

A novel point is that Maimonides connects the Heavenly Sphere with the concept of an angel: these are seen as the same thing. The Spheres are essentially pure Intelligences who receive spiritual essence from the Prime Mover. This energy overflows from each one to the next and finally reaches earth and the physical domain.

This leads into a discussion about the merits of the debate whether the universe is eternal or created. As in the first book, Aristotle's theory of the eternity of the universe is seen as the best, philosophically. However, this is because Maimonides considered the proofs that the universe was created to be inferior. He still points out supposed problems with the Aristotelian view and states that, while Aristotle's argument is the best, the possession of Divine Revelation from the Torah is the extra piece of information necessary to decide the matter.

This is followed by a brief exposition of Creation as outlined in Genesis and theories about the possible end of the world. The second major part of the book is the discussion of the concept of prophecy. Maimonides departs from the orthodoxy view in that he emphasises the intellectual aspect of prophecy. According to this view, in Biblical times, when God still revealed himself through prophecy, it was possible to combine logic and intelligence with a knowledge of God through the tradition (ie. the Written and Oral Torah) in order to achieve a certain level of prophecy. Maimonides outlines 13 levels of prophecy with the one of Moses being the highest and most unimpeded. Subsequently lowering levels remove the prophet from the source by allowing prophecies through extraneous factors such as angels and dreams. Finally, the language and nature of the prophetic books of the Bible is described.

Book Three

The beginning of the third book is described as the climax of the whole work. This is the exposition of the mystical passage of the Chariot found in Ezekiel. Traditionally, Jewish law viewed this passage as extremely sensitive, and in theory, did not allow it to be taught explicitly at all. The only way to learn it properly is if a student has enough knowledge to be able to interpret their teacher's hints by themselves, in which case the teacher is allowed to teach them through hints. (In practice, however, the mass of detailed rabbinic writings on this subject often crosses the line from hint to detailed teachings.)

After justifying what can be seen as crossing the line of hints, Maimonides explains the basic mystical concepts in terms of the Biblical terms referring to Spheres, elements and Intelligences. In these chapters, there is still very little in terms of direct explanation.

This is followed by an analysis of the moral aspects of the universe. Maimonides deals with the problem of evil (of which people are considered to be responsible for because of free will), trials and tests (especially those of Job) as well as other aspects traditionally attached to God in theology, such as providence and omniscience. Maimonides then explains his views on the reasons for the 613 mitzvot, the 613 laws that are contained with the five books of Moses. Maimonides divides these laws into 14 sections - the same as in his Mishneh Torah. However, he departs from traditional Rabbinic explanations in favour of a more physical/pragamatic approach.

Having culminated with the commandments, Maimonides concludes the work with the notion of the perfect and harmonious life, founded on the correct worship of God. The possession of a correct philosophy underlying Judaism (as outlined in the Guide) is seen as being an essential aspect in true wisdom.

How to read the Guide

By Maimonides' own design, most readers of the Guide have come to the conclusion that his beliefs were generally orthodox, i.e. in line with the thinking of most rabbis of his day. However the great majority of Maimonidean scholars hold that this is not correct. Many readers miss Maimonides' statement that he will not openly state any controversial views. He wrote that his Guide was addressed to only a select and educated readership, and that he is proposing ideas that are deliberately concealed from the masses. He writes in the introduction:

"A sensible man should not demand of me, or hope that when we mention a subject, we shall make a complete exposition of it"

and

"My object in adopting this arrangement is that the truths should be at one time apparent and at another time concealed. Thus we shall not be in opposition to the Divine Will (from which it is wrong to deviate) which has withheld from the multitude the truths required for the knowledge of God, according to the words, 'The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him (Psalm 25:14)'"

Marvin Fox comments on this:

"It is one of the mysteries of our intellectual history that these explicit statements of Maimonides, together with his other extensive instructions on how to read his book, have been so widely ignored. No author could have been more open in informing his readers that they were confronting no ordinary book."

There were a number of reasons for this caution. For one, there was a classical ban against explicitly teaching the secrets of creation. Secondly, many of his ideas were rejected as heretical by many other Jews.

Marvin Fox writes further:

"In his introduction to the Guide Maimonides speaks repeatedly of the "secret" doctrine that must be set forth in a way appropriate to its secret character. Rabbinic law, to which Maimonides as a loyal Jew is committed, prohibits any direct, public teaching of the secrets of the Torah. One is permitted to teach these only in private to selected students of proven competence..."

"It would seem that there is no way to write such a book without violating rabbinic law....Yet at times it is urgent to teach a body of sound doctrine to those who requite it....The problem is to find a method for writing such book in a way that does not violate Jewish law while conveying its message successfully to those who are properly qualified...."

According to Fox, Maimonides carefully assembled the Guide "so as to protect people without a sound scientific and philosophical education from doctrines that they cannot understand and that would only harm them, while making the truths available to students with the proper personal and intellectual preparation."

Aviezer Ravitzky writes:

Those who upheld a radical interpretation of the secrets of the Guide, from Joseph Caspi and Moses Narboni in the 14th century to Leo Strauss and Shlomo Pines in the 20th, proposed and developed tools and methods for the decoding of the concealed intentions of the Guide. Can we already find the roots of this approach in the writings of Samuel ben Judah ibn Tibbon, a few years after the writing of the Guide?...Ibn Tibbon's comments reveal his general approach toward the nature of the contradictions in the Guide: The interpreter need not be troubled by contradiction when one assertion is consistent with the "philosophic view" where as the other is completely satisfactory to "men of religion". Such contradictions are to be expected, and the worthy reader will know the reason for them and the direction they tend to...The correct reading of the Guide's chapters should be carried out in two complimentary directions: on the one hand, one should distinguish each chapter from the rest, and on the other one should combine different chapters and construct out of them a single topic. Again, on the one hand, one should get to the bottom of the specific subject matter of each chapter, it specific "innovation", an innovation not necessarily limited to the explicit subject matter if the chapter. On the other hand, one should combine scattered chapters which allude to one single topic so as to reconstruct the full scope of the topic.

Reactions and Criticism

More to come

Many of his ideas were rejected as heretical by many other Jews. His Guide was often banned. See the entry "Maimonidean Controversy, under Maimonides, in volume 11 of the Encyclopaedia Judaica, Keter Publishing, and Dogma in Medieval Jewish Thought, Menachem Kellner.

See also

• Jewish philosophy
• Samuel ben Judah ibn Tibbon

References

• Marvin Fox. Interpreting Maimonides. University of Chicago Press, 1990.
• Menachem Kellner. Dogma in Medieval Jewish Thought.
• Aviezer Ravitzky. Samuel Ibn Tibbon and the Esoteric Character of the Guide of the Perplexed. Association for Jewish Studies (AJS) Review, Vol.6, 1981:87-123.