Abstract
This article focuses on one of the central issues in Moses Maimonides' Jewish philosophy: the quest for the rationale of the commandments. Maimonides regards this quest as religiously obligatory. However, on two occasions he points to diverging scriptural evidence to underline his claim. By juxtaposing the two different scriptural proofs adduced by Maimonides, his use of hermeneutics in the service of philosophy is exposed in the inner precincts of Judaism: in regard to Judaism's particularistic law. In terms of spiritual leadership, Maimonides' dual scriptural approach enables him to bring his philosophical message home to different audiences.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 167-181 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | European Journal of Jewish Studies |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2019 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2019 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Keywords
- Jewish law (halakhah)
- Moses Maimonides
- hermeneutics
- medieval Jewish philosophy
- rationale of the commandments
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'The Rehabilitation of Philosophy via Hermeneutics. Maimonides' Diverging Scriptural Evidence Regarding the Quest for the Rationale of the Commandments'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Cite this
- APA
- Author
- BIBTEX
- Harvard
- Standard
- RIS
- Vancouver