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101 THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

101 While the Arabs preferred

Aristotle's logical

and

metaphysical works, Maimonides devoted his attention to his moral philosophy and sought to harmonize it with revelation. In his " Shemonah Perakim " (Eight Chapters), Maimonides adopts the Aristotelian four faculties of the soul. Both alike teach that two perfections dwell in the soul the Maimon- moral and the intellectual. The source ides and of virtue and vice lies, with both phiAristotle, losophers, in the capability of thought and desire. The most weighty of the " Eight Chapters " is the fourth. In accordance with

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Maimonides defines virtue as the desired tlie mean. " Moral acts are those that hold the " mean " between two harmful "extremes," between the "too much" and the "too little." When the soul is sick and falls into one extreme, it can be cured only by bringing it into the other extreme. As regards the problems of the aim of mankind and the purpose of human existence, the Jewish philosopher necessarily differs from the Greek. According to Aristotle, true happiness consists in virtue but with Maimonides the aim of mankind is divine perfection. Man must endeavor to approach the essence of the Deity as far as possible. What Maimonides expresses in the most exalted diction is found in the saying of the sages, " Let all thy actions be done in the name of Heaven

Aristotle,

action " in



!

This theory of moral theology is the introduction to Maimonides' philosophical system as presented in the " Moreh Nebukim " (Guide for the Perplexed). Following generally in the footsteps of Aristotle, he deserts him only when approaching the domain of God's law. But here, too, it is Aristotelian doctrine, coinciding, it is true, with Revelation in the basic principle that men are incapable of comprehending God's being fully, on account of their imperfection and His perfection. Concerning the sphere of metaphysical thought, absolute truth must lie in Revelation; that is, in Judaism. All that Plato and Aristotle thought out had been already correctly and more deeply taught by the philosophical oral law, of the possession of which by the Prophets Maimonides is convinced ("Moreh," i. While everything that Aristotle wrote 71, ii. 11). concerning nature, from the moon down to the center of the earth, was founded upon positive proof and is therefore sure and irrefragable, all his ideas concerning the character of the higher spheres partake rather of the nature of opinions than of philosophical certainties ("Moreh," ii. 22). Aristotle posits the eternity of the world, but can not demonstrate it. It being thus a matter of conflicting opinions, the supposition of an actual commencement of the world in time is far more intelligible. Maimonides thus appears as a sharp critic of Aristotle in theology, and refuses allegiance to him whenever he treats the statements of religion with disdain. Recognizing the divine origin of the Law, he necessarily arrays himself in strong opposition to Aristotle, who sees in the law of nature the highest and immutable law for it is the corollary of his acceptance of the eternity of the world. Consequently, Aristotle recognizes no miracles and no revelation, no selection by God of a peculiar people, no mission to an individual, no choice of any one particular age. Mai;

Aristotle in Jewish Literature

monides expressly mentions that Aristotle denies all Special Providence, which certainly contradicts what Aristotle himself says in his " Nicomachean Ethics," x. 9. Maimonides' work evoked, as is well known, considerable party -strife, which ended, however, in

acknowledgment by all parties of his authority. The distinction of having completed Maimonides'

the

endeavor may be accorded to Levi ben Gerson (d. about 1344) of Provence, who possessed accurate

knowledge of the Aristotelian and other philosophHe took the commentator Averroes as his guide in expounding the Stagirite. Nevertheless, Levi is a decidedly independent thinker, by no means blindly " swearing to the words of his master. ical writings.

He

holds that there is in a force tending toward humanity an impulse not operating in a circle so as to return an Aristo- constantly to the point of departure, telian. but manifesting itself rather as a steadily ascending spiral. Accordingly, no older solution of a problem can claim unconditional acceptance as the truth, if later research conflict with it. He is thus an opponent of the Aristotelian conception of the eternity of the world. Had

Levi ben Gerson,

the world existed from eternity, the comparative youth of the various sciences could not be explained (and he maintains their comparative youth

above-quoted opinion of Maimonides), inasmuch as striving after knowledge is an original characteristic of mankind. His innate acumen, which induces him to subject individual doctrines of Aristotle to close criticism, in order to advance his own views against him, and to substantiate them when necessary, is not inconsistent with a devoted and thorough study of the Stagirite. He is so thoroughly at home in Aristotle, that though, for instance, unable to quote any authentic passage from his master concerning immortality, he is yet able to formulate something entirely in harmony with his views (Joel, "Levi ben Gerson," p. 22). For Maimonides, and his successor Levi ben Gerson, Aristotle is throughout an undeniable authority. His deliverances are to them generally as unassailable and as indisputable as those of the Bible itself. This attitude sometimes led these two devoted Aristotelians to misinterpret certain Scriptural passages that seemed to conflict with the Stagirite. With all Maimonides' magnificent attempts to harmonize Judaism and Aristotelianism, and with all the achievements in this direction by Ben Gerson, they could not fail to awaken in discerning minds the conviction that Levi all such endeavors started from vain premises. ben Gerson's effort to reconcile the " creatio ex nihilo" (the creation out of nothing) with Aristotle's view, by claiming boldly the eternity of the Original Matter, only served, like other compromises, to expose the impossibilities of the undertaking. The first to shatter with daring hand the idolatry that the Middle Ages had paid to the Stagirite, was Hasdai Crescas of Saragossa(1377Crescas At- 1410). He made the first noteworthy attempt to demonstrate the untentacks Aristotle. ableness of the Aristotelian conceptions. He especially protests against his statement of the finiteness of the world, and, starting from the supposition that an infinite retroin opposition to the