Review Of "Interpreting Maimonides: Studies In Methodology, Metaphysics, And Moral Philosophy" By M. Fox

Document Type

Book Review

Publication Date

3-1-1991

Published In

Choice

Abstract

In this important study, Fox addresses in a fresh and penetrating way the standard of Maimonides' position: reason and revelation, negative and positive predicates of God, creation and the eternity of the world, the religious foundation of ethics and morality, and, finally, prayer and the religious life. Fox sees Maimonides as neither exclusively an Aristotelian nor purely a Jewish traditionalist, as neither heretic nor naive believer, but as maintaining a balanced, delicately nuanced position in which Aristotelian and traditional elements are held in dynamic tension--a position made possible by a sophisticated analysis of the limits of human knowledge of God. In Fox's own words, "Maimonides provides us with a model of how to live with this irresolvable tension, moving back and forth between these poles and all the time preserving both intellectual and religious integrity" (p. 250). Fox (Brandeis University) has edited Modern Jewish Ethics: Theory and Practice (1975) and Kant's Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals (1949). Highly recommended for faculty, graduate and upper-level undergraduate collections.

Comments

This work is freely available courtesy of Choice Reviews. The review has been reproduced in full in the abstract field.

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