Maimonides & Spinoza: Their Conflicting Views of Human Nature

Maimonides & Spinoza: Their Conflicting Views of Human Nature

Until the last century, it was generally agreed that Maimonides was a great defender of Judaism, and Spinozaâ€”as an Enlightenment advocate for secularizationâ€”among its key opponents. However, a new scholarly consensus has recently emerged that the teachings of the two philosophers were in fact much closer than was previously thought. In his perceptive new book, Joshua Parens sets out to challenge the now predominant view of Maimonides as a protomodern forerunner to Spinozaâ€”and to show that a chief reason to read Maimonides is in fact to gain distance from our progressively secularized worldview.

Turning the focus from Spinozaâ€™s oft-analyzed Theologico-Political Treatise, this book has at its heart a nuanced analysis of his theory of human nature in the Ethics. Viewing this work in contrast to Maimonidesâ€™s Guide of the Perplexed, it makes clear that Spinoza can no longer be thought of as the founder of modern Jewish identity, nor should Maimonides be thought of as having paved the way for a modern secular worldview. Maimonides and Spinoza dramatically revises our understanding of both philosophers.
Country USA
Manufacturer The University of Chicago Press
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2012-04-09

Country	USA
Manufacturer	The University of Chicago Press
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2012-04-09

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