Maimonides and St. Thomas on the Limits of Reason

293 Pages·1995·1.76 MB·English

by  Idit Dobbs-Weinstein

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title: Maimonides and St. Thomas On the Limits of Reason
SUNY Series in Philosophy
author: Dobbs-Weinstein, Idit.
publisher: State University of New York Press
isbn10 | asin: 0791424154
print isbn13: 9780791424155
ebook isbn13: 9780585045863
language: English
subject Maimonides, Moses,--1135-1204, Thomas,--Aquinas,
Saint,--1225?-1274, Philosophy, Medieval, Faith and
reason.
publication date: 1995
lcc: B759.M34D62 1995eb
ddc: 181/.06
subject: Maimonides, Moses,--1135-1204, Thomas,--Aquinas,
Saint,--1225?-1274, Philosophy, Medieval, Faith and
reason.
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Page i
Maimonides and St. Thomas
on the Limits of Reason

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Page ii
SUNY SERIES IN PHILOSOPHY
GEORGE R. LUCAS, JR., EDITOR

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Maimonides and St. Thomas
on the Limits of Reason
Idit Dobbs-Weinstein
STATE UNIVERSITYOF NEW YORK PRESS

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Page iv
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
© 1995 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced
in any manner whatsoever without written permission
except in the case of brief quotations embodied in
critical articles and reviews.
For information, address State University of New York Press,
State University Plaza, Albany, N.Y. 12246
Production by M. R. Mulholland
Marketing by Dana E. Yanulavich
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dobbs-Weinstein, Idit, 1950-
Maimonides and St. Thomas on the limits of reason / Idit Dobbs
-Weinstein.
p. cm. (SUNY series in philosophy)
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 0-7914-2415-4 (alk. paper). ISBN 0-7914-2416-2 (pbk.:
alk. paper)
1. Maimonides, Moses, 1135-1204. 2. Thomas, Aquinas, Saint,
1225?-1274. 3. Philosophy, Medieval. 4. Faith and reason.
I. Title. II. Title: Maimonides and Saint Thomas on the limits of
reason. III. Series.
B759.M34D62 1995
181´.06dc20 94-3369
CIP
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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Page v
In Memory of my Father
Ephraim (Alfred) Weinstein
(19101984)

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Page vii
Contents
Apologia and Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xi
Introduction 1
1. Maimonides and Aquinas as Interpreters 13
13
The Development of Philosophical, Biblical Exegesis
16
Maimonides' and Aquinas' Approaches to Interpretation
20
Interpretation as a Philosophical Practice
2. The Book of Job 39
39
Early Approaches to the Book of Job
41
The Nature of the Inquiry
45
Maimonides' Account of Job
52
Aquinas' Exposition on Job
3. The Account of the Beginning or Creation 61
61
Introduction
63
Maimonides' Arguments for Creation
76
Aquinas' Arguments for Creation
4. Matter, Privation, and Evil 89
89
Introduction
90
Maimonides' Ambivalence Toward Matter
102
Aquinas' Understanding of Matter, Privation, and Evil
5. Natural Human Perfection and Its Limits 113
113
Introduction
115
The Nature of the Human Soul According to Maimonides
126
Aquinas and the Harmony of the Soul
138
Conclusion
6. Divine Law as a Perfection of Philosophical Ethics 141
141
Introduction
142
The Limits of Philosophical Ethics According to Maimonides
146
Divine Sanction as Universal Imperative

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Page viii
155
The Limits of Legislative Reason
160
The Displacement of Legislative Reason by Divine Law
168
Conclusion
7. Hubris, Knowledge, and Provident Participation 171
171
Introduction
172
The Problem of Job
178
Modes of Participating Providence
185
Conclusion: Excess and Reticence
Endnotes 199
Bibliography 261
Name Index 273
Subject Index 275

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Page ix
Apologia and Acknowledgments
In a manner of speaking, this book has its origin in my early childhood or, more precisely, in my first encounter
with the Disaster (Shoah). My continued preoccupation with the history of philosophy, or with philosophy's
appropriations and suppressions of its history, is, quite simply, the manifestation of an attempt to understand the
irreducible tension between reason and ethics, the true and the good or just, precisely in the face of Modernity's
attempt to conceal such a tension by reducing truth to certainty and justice to its practical application. Modernity's
failure to accomplish its theoretical promise or fulfill its practical end, freeing "Humanity" from its dogmatic
slumber and theologico-political bondage, when it is coupled (as it should be) with the triumph of the progressive,
instrumental rationality manifest in this century's "Disaster," demand a response. Indeed, numerous responses have
been forthcoming. Ironically, most, if not all, of them, "Analytic'' as well as "Continental," subscribe to
Modernity's judgment about medieval philosophy and, hence, either ignore it altogether or ignore significant, non-
Western, silenced aspects of it, including those whose influence upon the Christian, Latin tradition are necessary
for understanding the Western philosophical tradition. Rather than attempt either to escape reason's disastrous
consequences into some other, more humane discourse, "create" an entirely new philosophy, or persevere in a
belief in an as yet to be fulfilled progress, in this book I seek to retrieve reflections on the limits of reason and their
consequences for the possibilities of knowledge and action by two, major medieval philosophers, Moses
Maimonides and St. Thomas Aquinas. Rather than being idiosyncratic, the choice of retrieving the "dialogue"
between the non-Western, Jewish Maimonides and the Western, Christian Aquinas renders possible an
appreciation of the importance of occluded aspects of the premodern philosophical tradition for understanding the
Western tradition and for "discovering" its silenced possibilities.
Owing to the long history of the book gestation, I owe debts of gratitude to more individuals than I can probably
recall, especially to former teachers, colleagues and students. To the late John Brückmann I am indebted for his
encouragements to pursue graduate work in medieval philosophy, in general, the influence of Maimonides on
Thomas Aquinas, in particular. To the late Frank (Ephraim) Talmage and to James P. Reilly, Jr., I am indebted for
their dedicated supervision of my advanced graduate work. To the late David Rapport Lachterman, I am indebted
for many long, inspiring conversations

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