Why Read Maimonides Today? (Why Read Them Today) - Softcover

Steven, Nadler

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1009304739 ISBN 13: 9781009304733

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2026

Synopsis

Maimonides (Moshe/Moses ben Maimon, 1138–1204) was not only the dominant rabbinic and Jewish intellectual figure of the later medieval period, but also one of history's greatest philosophers. As the author of the Mishneh Torah (ca. 1180), a compendium and systematization of the Jewish legal code, he remains an unsurpassed (if not uncontroversial) authority on halakha (Jewish law). His philosophical masterpiece, however, is the Guide of the Perplexed (1185-1190), in which he systematically presents his views on theology, metaphysics, cosmology, natural science, epistemology, Scriptural hermeneutics, law and ethics. This accessible and highly readable book introduces the reader to Maimonides' life and thought, and uses a number of enduring and popular philosophical topics – including the problem of evil, freedom of the will, and the relationship between virtue and happiness - to show that he continues to be interesting and relevant to readers today.

About this title

About the Author

Steven Nadler is Vilas Research Professor and William H. Hay II Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His many publications include Spinoza: A Life (Cambridge, 1999; second edition, 2018).

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1009304739
• ISBN 13: 9781009304733
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144