ERIC Number: EJ1451442
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Nov
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1477-8785
EISSN: EISSN-1741-3192
Spinoza and Maimonides on Human Perfection and the Love of God
Steven Nadler
Theory and Research in Education, v22 n3 p251-271 2024
Part Five of Spinoza's "Ethics" includes a notoriously challenging set of propositions about human perfection. Part of the difficulty in interpreting these elements of the work arises from neglecting important philosophical background for the relevant propositions, namely, medieval Jewish rationalism and Maimonides in particular. Spinoza was well acquainted with Maimonides' "Guide of the Perplexted" as well as his halakhic or legal writings. For both Spinoza and Maimonides (who, in turn, is a good Aristotelian on this matter), human perfection is essentially a cognitive matter, albeit one with an affective component, whereby the highest good for a human being consists in the superb and joyful intellectual condition that is the knowledge and love of God. My goal in this essay, then, is to see whether any light can be thrown on Spinoza's views on this topic by considering them through a Maimonidean lens.
Descriptors: Philosophy, Ethics, Individual Development, Transformative Learning, Religious Factors, Judaism, Cognitive Development, Role of Education, Epistemology
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2993
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A