Maimonides
From Philosopedia
Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon) (c. 1137 -12 December 1204)
A Jewish medieval scholar, physician, and philosopher, Maimonides is also known by the names Moses Maimonides, Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon or the acronym the Rambam (Hebrew: רבי משה בן מימון; Hebrew acronym: רמב"ם; Arabic: موسى ابن ميمون Mūsā ibn Maymūn, short for أبو عمران موسى بن عبيد الله ميمون القرطبي Abū ʿImrān Mūsā bin ʿUbaidallāh Maimūn al-Qurṭubī).
Born in Córdoba, Spain, he became a rabbi, physician, and philosopher in Spain, Egypt, and Morocco. A contemporary of Averroes, he wrote in the tradition of Aristotle.
A major tenet of his was that one cannot arrive at what is true by using human intellect that contradicts God. He wrote Moreh Nevukhim (tr., Guide of the Perplexed) in Arabic and explained his proof of the existence of God, expounded the principles of creation, and elucidated metaphysical and religious problems. His thinking exerted an influence upon Christian thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas and Albertus Magnus.
However, Israel Shahak wrote in Jewish History, Jewish Religion,
- [Maimonides] was a racist and his attitude toward blacks and Mongols was worse than the attitude of Aquinas toward the Jews. The latter attitude was acknowledged by Catholics only after a long and severe struggle against a previous cover-up. . . . Maimonides’ attitude toward non-Jews, whatever their race, is hardly better than his views about blacks and Mongols. One example: According to Maimonides (and all his commentators) in his monumental compendium of Talmudic law, Mishneh Torah: “If a Jew has a coitus with a Gentile woman, whether she be a child or three or an adult, whether married or unmarried, and even if he is a minor aged only nine years and one day—because he had willful coitus with her, she must be killed, as is the case with a beast, because through her a Jew got into trouble” (“Prohibitions on Sexual Intercourse”). It is obvious a person who could promulgate such a horrible law, and many similar ones, could also compare human beings to half-apes.
Entry in the Jewish Encyclopedia
See the Jewish Encyclopedia biography of Maimonides.
Entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
See the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy biography of Maimonides.
{The Nation, 6 July 1998}
