Faces of Maimonides

Dov Schwartz, Translated by Batya Stein

The Many Faces of Maimonides

Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2018, ISBN: 978-1-61811-780-9

Reviewed by Carsten Schliwski1

Research on Maimonides as a philosopher and theologian, is already well established and his Guide of the Perplexed can be considered as one of the most studied books on this subject. Therefore, the task of Dov Schwartz, former Dean of Humanities at Bar Ilan University and head of the departments of Philosophy and Music, to offer a new reading that covers this subject can be considered an ambitious one.

The author has divided this work into six chapters, in which he deals with several aspects of Maimonidean thinking that can be found in The Guide of the Perplexed. The author tries a new approach to the Guide, by reading it very carefully and combining his analysis with sources found outside it in Jewish and Muslim philosophical and theological traditions.

The first chapter on metaphysics is based on Guide I, 31-35, where Maimonides deals with the interest in metaphysics and its dangers. The latter can be caused by the improper study of physics whose understanding is fundamental for understanding metaphysics. Therefore, the study of metaphysics has to be based on a scientific curriculum that cannot be mastered by most people. On the other hand, the desire for metaphysics is part of the human nature. Therefore, the intellectual has to ensure that only people with an intellect similar to his/her own are allowed to study this subject, while the multitude of people is educated to degree corresponding to their individual intellectual capabilities.

The second chapter considers the separate intellects based on Guide II, 2-12: The separate intellects are the movers of the spheres. Schwartz tries to explain why this part of the Guide precedes the section that deals with the creation. The reason for this seems to lie in the role of the meaning of the separate intellects. They are fundamental for the understanding of the proofs of creation and, therefore, have to be dealt with first. In his reasoning on this subject, Maimonides leaves the Aristotelian methods behind and follows an independent method that includes analogies that can be found in rabbinical thinking and are not held in high esteem by Aristotelian philosophy.

Idolatry and magic are addressed in the third chapter. These topics are not based on the Guide itself but on other writings of Maimonides, which are interpreted by Schwartz in the intellectual framework of the Guide. According to Maimonides, magic can be divided into two categories: the folk magic that does not have any intellectual aspect and that Maimonides considers to be a tradition without any threat, and the professional magic, which is based on astrology and, therefore, harmful, because of its intellectual aspects. According to Schwartz, a development that be seen regarding Maimonides’ view of magic, that moved from a more relaxed attitude towards magical practices in his Spanish surroundings to a stricter attitude in Egypt.

The fourth chapter deals with the reasons for idolatry. In Guide I, 36, Maimonides argues that the use of images for worship does not mean that the images themselves are deemed to be gods, but they function as an intermediary between God and the human being. In this view, Maimonides seems to be influenced by both Jewish and Muslim sources.

The immortality of the soul is the subject of the fifth chapter. Maimonides seems to be influenced by the views of Avicenna, who considers the immortality of the soul as pleasure that can be derived by attaining knowledge or as complete misery. Maimonides does not acknowledge the latter stage, because in accordance to Jewish traditions, the soul of a human being who did not attain knowledge in his lifetime is to be wiped out and will not be part of the world to come: Only the intellect, which is identical with the pure intelligibles it has acquired, can survive. Therefore a sinner, who is unable to collect those intelligibles, cannot survive. With this assumption, Maimonides denies a bodily resurrection.

Schwartz’s aim in the sixth chapter is to summarize the interpretation delivered in the first five chapters by defining Maimonides as a philosophical theologian or a theological philosopher. Maimonides tries to solve the antagonism between the two disciplines of philosophy and theology by stating that the ideal theologian accepts the philosophical, i.e. Aristotelian structure of the world, but not without a critical inquiry of its assumptions. Maimonides tries to establish a model that includes two kinds of theologians: the early ones, who are compatible with philosophy by accepting the philosophical framework of nature and the later ones, who contradict philosophy. The early theologians are represented, according to Maimonides, by the Christian theologians who are based on an Aristotelian influenced Neoplatonic world view, while the later theologians are represented by the Muslim mutakallimūn. Maimonides sees himself in the tradition of the early theologians. An example given by Schwartz for Maimonides’ critical reception of the Aristotelian basis is the case of the creation of the world. According to Aristotle the world is eternal; but this contradicts the religious belief of a created world. According to Maimonides, the observation of the world leads to the conclusion that it is eternal because God created it in a way that its order and behavior constitute a being without temporal limitations.

Taking into account the academic purpose of the Guide, Schwartz comes to the following conclusion:

“Maimonides’ attitude toward theology is thus complex:

  1. Maimonides rejected the prevalent (Muslim) theology.
  2. Maimonides believed in the existence of an (ideal) theology compatible with philosophy.
  3. In order to build such a theology, the status of philosophy or of science and its connection to the interpretation of texts should be clarified according to its ‘inner meanings.’
  4. This was the task that occupied Maimonides in the Guide and, possibly, he held that he had completed it.”

According to Schwartz, Maimonides’ aim was not to replace theology by philosophy but rather to create a new theology based on philosophy that acknowledged the Aristotelian fundaments by knowing the laws of physics. From this viewpoint, Maimonides stands for the transition away from the theology based on the kalām to a theology based on Aristotelian philosophy. With this volume, Schwartz delivers an interesting and inspiring interpretation of the metaphysical aspects within Maimonides’ Guide, which lays the groundwork for potential fruitful discussion.


1 Carsten Schliwski is a Research Associate at the Thomas Institute (University of Cologne). Currently he is working in the project “Averroes as a Physician: Intellectual and Social Contexts of Medicine in al-Andalus,” financed by the Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaft.

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