Overview

Until the last century, it was generally agreed that Maimonides was a great defender of Judaism, and Spinoza—as an Enlightenment advocate for secularization—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 Spinoza—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 Spinoza’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 Maimonides’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.

Full Product Details

9780226645742

Table of Contents

Reviews

A well-conceived, well-executed thinking through of a tangled controversy over how to understand the relationship between two formidable and influential figures in the history of philosophy. Joshua Parens is thoroughly convincing in his assertion that the current scholarly tendency to assimilate Maimonides to Spinoza is superficially attractive but fundamentally misleading. (Martin D. Yaffe, University of North Texas)

Author Information

Joshua Parens is professor in and graduate director of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Dallas. He is the author of An Islamic Philosophy of Virtuous Religions and coeditor of the second edition of Medieval Political Philosophy: A Sourcebook.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available