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Guide for the perplexed

Written by Moses Maimonides, this seminal work delves into metaphysics, ethics, and the nature of God, offering insights into the complexities of human thought and the quest for wisdom. more

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Maimonides
Maimonides

Maimonides, born on March 30, 1135 and died on December 12, 1204, was a Jewish philosopher, physician, and legal scholar. He is renowned for his contributions to philosophy, medicine, and Jewish law. more

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“The corporeal element in man is a large screen and partition that prevents him from perfectly perceiving abstract ideals; this would be the case even if the corporeal element were as pure and superior as the substance of the spheres ; how much more must this be the case with our dark and opaque body. However great the exertion of our mind may be to comprehend the Divine Being or any of the ideals, we find a screen and partition between God and us.”

IfsMenMindMayBodyWould BeDarkCasesDivinePureElementsIdealsScreensSuperiorsSubstanceAbstractSpheresExertionPartitionOpaque
Book:The Guide for the Perplexed
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“The Mutakallemim... apply the term non-existence only to absolute non-existence, and not to absence of properties. A property and the absence of that property are considered by them as two opposites, they treat, e.g. , blindness and sight, death and life, in the same way as heat and cold. Therefore they say, without any qualification, non-existence does not require any agent, an agent is required when something is produced.”

WayDoeTwoTermExistenceColdOppositesTreatsSightAbsolutesPropertyAbsenceAgentsHeatLife And DeathBlindnessQualificationsNon ExistenceTwo OppositesHeat And Cold
Book:Guide for the perplexed
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“He who thinks he can have flesh and bones without being subject to any external influence, or any accidents of matter, unconsciously wishes to reconcile two opposites, viz., to be at the same time subject and not subject to change. If man were never subject to change there could be no generation; there would be one single being, but no individuals forming a species.”

IfsThinkingMenTwoMatterWould BeIndividualWishGenerationsInfluenceSubjectsOppositesSpeciesBonesAccidentsFleshReconcileTwo OppositesExternal Influences
Book:The Guide for the Perplexed
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“Galen , in the third section of his book, "The Use of the Limbs," says correctly that it would be in vain to expect to see living beings formed of the blood of menstruous women and the semen virile, who will not die, will never feel pain, or will move perpetually, or shine like the sun. This dictum of Galen is part of the following more general proposition: Whatever is formed of matter receives the most perfect form possible in that species of matter; in each individual case the defects are in accordance with that individual matter.”

FeelsBookMatterUseWould BePainMovingFormDiesIndividualPerfectCasesSunBloodThirdsShiningSpeciesFollowingVainSectionsPropositionsDefectsLimbsGalen
Book:The Guide for the Perplexed
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“It is no wrong or injustice that one has many bags of the finest myrrh and garments embroidered with gold, while another has not those things, which are not necessary for our maintenance; he who has them has not thereby obtained control over anything that could be an essential addition to his nature, but has only obtained something illusory or deceptive. ...This is the rule at all times and in all places; no notice should be taken of exceptional cases, as we have explained.”

ShouldCasesTakenEssentialsGoldInjusticeAll TimeBagsFinestExceptionalGarmentsMaintenanceDeceptiveIllusory
Author:Maimonides
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