Maimonides: a Jewish Thinker in the Islamic World

Maimonides: a Jewish Thinker in the Islamic World NEJS 155a, Fall 2017

Professor Jonathan Decter Office: Lown 211 Mail Stop: 054 Office hours: Thursdays 12-1 or by appointment Phone: 62960

In this course, we will study the life and works of Moses Maimonides as a Jewish thinker within the Islamic world. The first half of the course deals with his migrations from Islamic Spain, to North Africa, to Egypt and with the works in philosophy and law produced during this time. The second half of the course is dedicated to Maimonides’ major opus the Guide of the Perplexed. We will look at Maimonides’ engagement with trends in philosophy, theology, and jurisprudence among Islamic thinkers and also look at his attitudes toward Islam. In addition, we will study various competing interpretations of Maimonides that have emerged in the medieval and modern periods. We will see that Maimonides is a greatly contested figure who has been made into an icon within various intellectual projects.

Required Texts:

Joel Kramer, Maimonides: The Life and World of One of Civilization’s Greatest Minds

Sarah Stroumsa, Maimonides in His World

Moses Maimonides, The Guide of the Perplexed, ed. and trans. Shlomo Pines, 2 volumes

Isadore Twersky, A Maimonides Reader

Preparation time: Success in this 4 credit hour course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (readings, papers, discussion sections, preparation for exams, etc.).

Evaluation:

Evaluation is based on two writing assignments (one short and one long), a take-home examination, and class participation.

The short assignment (4-5 pages) is a short paper about one of the primary texts read for class up to the due date (primarily from the Commentary on the Mishnah or the Mishneh- Torah); you may prefer to work on another text (apart from the Guide of the Perplexed) brought up in the secondary reading in consultation with the professor. You are expected to write an explanation and analysis of the text more than a research paper, though you may find secondary literature helpful. Due 10/10

1 The long assignment (10-12 pages) is a research paper that will deal with some aspect of Maimonides’ thought (e.g., the relationship between Philosophy and Religion, or between Philosophy and Law, Creation, Prophecy, Providence, God’s Knowledge, Divine Attributes, Biblical Exegesis, etc.), primarily dealing with the Guide of the Perplexed. In this paper, you will consider the opinions of various scholars on the issue and you may compare Maimonides’ position with those of other medieval thinkers. This paper is a research paper and must treat primary and secondary sources. A proposal with starting bibliography is due on 10/24 and the paper is due on 12/7. There are some guidelines for how I grade research papers at the end of the syllabus. There are several resources that you might find useful for beginning your research. Note that the endnotes for the Kraemer book use short titles only and do not present full bibliographic information; full information can be found at http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/maimonides/bibliography - this is a very good general bibliography. There are several thorough bibliographies of research on Maimonides: See “Selected bibliography of studies on Maimonides, 1991-” in Jewish History 18 (2004): 243-89 (this journal is available on line); David Lachterman, “Maimonidean Studies 1950-1986: A Bibliography” in Maimonidean Studies 1 (1990), 197-216. I can direct you to another good bibliography of works in Hebrew if you are interested. The recent Cambridge Companion to Maimonides, edited by Kenneth Seeskin, presents a useful bibliography (individual articles also present useful information in the notes). Another vital resource is RAMBI (Index of Articles on Jewish Studies): http://jnul.huji.ac.il/rambi/ (this is a searchable database).

The take-home final will ask you to synthesize material from throughout the semester. It requires between 6 and 10 pages of writing. Due 12/14

Participation: Regular participation (which presumes attendance) is essential (and is worth 15% of the final grade). Participation means that the student shows clear evidence of having prepared the reading and an attempt to discuss broad ideas suggested by the text.

Grade computation:

Short Paper 20% Long Paper 35% Final 30% Participation 15%

Academic Honesty You must complete all assignments alone. In your writing, you must follow rules of attribution, meaning that you must cite all sources consulted in preparing your papers. As stated in the Student Handbook, “Every member of the University community is expected to maintain the highest standards of academic honesty. A student shall not receive credit for work that is not the product of the student’s own effort.” Examples of penalties for a student found responsible for an infringement of academic honesty are no credit for the work in question, failure in the course, and the

2 traditional range of conduct sanctions from disciplinary warning through permanent dismissal from the University.

Students with documented disabilities: Students with disabilities certified by the Coordinator of Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities in the Office of Undergraduate Academic Affairs and First Year Services will be given reasonable accommodations to complete required assignments. Disabilities that are not documented and approved by the Office of Academic Affairs will not be given accommodations.

Schedule of Assignments

The tentative list of assignments below (simply called 1, 2, 3, etc.) has groups of readings from various sources (books purchased for class and otherwise). All articles listed in “packet” are to be found on the LATTE site, where the packet is divided into four sections (you will have to scroll through the appropriate section to find the right pages). Again, this list is tentative and the syllabus may change as we set priorities (plus some of the assignments have more reading than can really be accomplished in a single session). After this list, you will find a list of meeting dates.

1 Introduction

2 The World of Maimonides’ Birth Kraemer, 1-54

3 Maimonides’ World Stroumsa, ch. 1

4 Theological Background Stroumsa, chapter 2

5 Early Writings Kraemer, 55-82 Treatise on Logic, selections

6 Maimonides the Refugee Kraemer, 83-124 Stroumsa, chapter 3 Epistle on Martyrdom (Latte)

7 Egypt Kraemer, 125-63

3 8 The Commentary on the Mishnah Kraemer, 164-86 Eight Chapters, Commentary on Avot in Twersky, 361-400 Marvin Fox, “The Doctrine of the Mean in Aristotle and Maimonides: A Comparative Study” (Reader, 244-58)

9 The Commentary on the Mishnah Continued Pereq Heleq in Twersky, 401-23 Stroumsa, pp. 165-82 Marc B. Shapiro, The Limits of Orthodox Theology in reader, pp. 150-78

10 Maimonides’ Leadership, at Home and Abroad Kraemer, 216-43, 269-315

11 The Mishneh Torah Isadore Twersky, “Some non-Halakhic Aspects of the Mishneh-Torah,” reader 269-81 Twersky, A Maimonides Reader, 35-70

12 The Mishneh Torah continued Twersky, A Maimonides Reader, 71-119 Stroumsa, chapter 4

The Remainder of the course will be dedicated to the Guide of the Perplexed

13 Epistle Dedicatory and Introduction to First Part Kraemer, 359-77 GP, 1-20

14 Meanings of Words that Occur in the “Books of Prophecy” Kraemer, 377-81 GP, 21-43

15 Further on Words that Occur in the “Books of Prophecy” GP, 43-64 Stephen D. Benin, “‘The Cunning of God’ and Divine Accommodation” (Reader, 107-119)

16 On the Limits of Knowledge GP, 65-81

4 Aviezer Ravitzky, “Maimonides and Esotericism in Educational Philosophy” (Reader, 120-31)

17 Theory of Negative Attributes Kraemer, 381-82 GP, 111-43 Isaac Franck, “Maimonides and Aquinas on Man’s Knowledge of God: A Twentieth Century Perspective” (Reader, 132-142)

18 On the Kalam and their Proofs GP 169-71, 175-84, 227-231

19 Introduction to Part II, Proofs for the Existence of God GP, 235-41, 252-59

20 Creation of the World and Astronomical Matters Kraemer, 382-87 GP 281-98, 322-323 Y. Tzvi Langermann, “The True Perplexity: The Guide of the Perplexed, Part II, chapter 24,” in Perspectives on Maimonides, ed. Joel Kraemer, 159-74 (Latte) Stroumsa, chapter 5

21 Creation continued 324-36, 348-59 Sarah Klein-Braslavy, “The Creation of the World and Maimonides’ Interpretation of Gen. I-V” (Reader, 143-49)

22 Prophecy Kraemer, 387-88 GP, 360-85

23 Prophecy Continued GP 385-412 Jeffrey Macy, “Prophecy in al-Farabi and Maimonides: the Imaginative and Rational Faculties” (Reader, 179-87)

24 Theodicy Kraemer, 388-94 GP, 461-77, 480-84 Dov Schwartz, “The Debate over the Maimonidean Theory of Providence in Thirteenth Century Jewish Philosophy” (Reader, 198-204)

25 Maimonides Interpretation of the Book of Job Kraemer, 394-97

5 GP, 486-97 Robert Eisen, The Book of Job in Medieval Jewish Philosophy, selections (Reader, 205-23)

26 Happiness Kraemer, 397-406 GP, 618-38 Daniel H. Frank, “The End of the Guide: Maimonides on the Best Life for Man” (Reader, 282-92)

Scheduled meetings (there will be no class on Thursday November 2; a makeup session will be scheduled).

August 31 September 5, 7, 12, 14, 16, 19, 26, 28 October 3, 10, 11 (Wednesday), 17, 19, 24, 26, 31 November 7, 9, 14, 16 (guest speaker Alfred Ivry), 21, 28, 30 December 5, 7

Guidelines for Grading of Research Papers

Below are some guidelines I use when grading. Clear organization is essential.

A A truly impressive (nearly flawless) presentation of carefully researched material. The paper investigates a problem not discussed in previous scholarship according to a thorough research scheme devised by the student.

A- An original and superior presentation of carefully researched material. The paper investigates a problem not discussed in previous scholarship according to a thorough research scheme devised by the student.

B+ A strong presentation of carefully researched material. The paper should show independent thought and analysis.

B Topic is well-formulated and presented with competence. The paper is strong but is not original in its approach.

B- Topic is slightly less than competently executed. The topic may be apparent but not well-defined.

6 Below B- Topic is not carefully researched or clearly formulated.