The Guide for the Perplexed
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The Guide for the Perplexed is one of the three major works of Maimonides . This work seeks to reconcile Aristotelian philosophy with Hebrew Bible theology, by finding rational explanations for many events in the text.
It was written in Judeo-Arabic in the form of a three part letter to his student, Rabbi Joseph ben Judah of Ceuta, the son of Rabbi Judah, and is the main source of the Rambam's philosophical views, as opposed to his opinions on Jewish law. It is interesting to note, however, that a small minority believe the Guide for the Perplexed to have been written by an anonymous heretic and not the Rambam, most notably amongst these is the revered 18th century scholar, Reb Yaakov Emden.
Since many of the philosophical concepts, such as his view of theodicy and the relationship between philosophy and religion, are relevant beyond strictly Jewish theology, it has been the work most commonly associated with Maimonides in the non-Jewish world and it is known to have influenced several major non-Jewish philosophers.
See also
- Baruch Spinoza
- Jewish philosophy
- Kabbalah
- Mario Javier Saban
- Nachmanides
- Yonah of Gerona
- A Guide for the Perplexed
