The Guide for the Perplexed

by Moses Maimonides (Author), M. Friedlander (Translator) Dive into the depths of medieval philosophy with the timeless classic. Written by the twelfth-century polymath Maimonides, this seminal work seeks to reconcile religious beliefs with philosophical thought, proving as relevant today as it was centuries ago. This is the complete, unabridged text of one of the greatest philosophical works of all time. Written by a 12th-century thinker who was equally active as an original philosopher and as a Biblical and Talmudic scholar, it is both a classic of great historical importance and a work of living significance today. The Guide for the Perplexed waswritten for scholars bewildered by the conflict between religion and the scientific and philosophical thought of the day. It is concerned with finding a concord between the religion of the Old Testament and its commentaries and Aristotelian philosophy. After analyzing the ideas of the Old Testament by means of homonyms, Maimonides examines other reconciliations of religion and philosophy (the Moslem rationalists) and then proposes his own resolution with contemporary Aristotelianism. The Guide for the Perplexed was immediately recognized as a masterwork, and it strongly influenced Jewish, Christian, and Moslem thought of the Middle Ages. It is necessary reading for any full comprehension of the thought of such scholastics as Aquinas and Scotus and indispensable for everyone interested in the Middle Ages, Judaism, medieval philosophy, or the larger problems that Maimonides discusses.