Written in Arabic and completed around 1190, the Guide to the Perplexed is among the most powerful and influential living texts in Jewish philosophy, a masterwork navigating the straits between religion and science, logic and revelation. The author, Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, commonly known as Maimonides or as Rambam, was a Sephardi Jewish philosopher, jurist, and physician. He wrote his Guide in the form of a letter to a disciple. But the perplexity it aimed to cure might strike anyone who sought to square logic, mathematics, and the sciences with biblical and rabbinic traditions. In this new translation by philosopher Lenn E. Goodman and historian Phillip I. Lieberman, Maimonides' warm, conversational voice and clear explanatory language come through as never before in English.

Maimonides knew well the challenges facing serious inquirers at the confluence of the two great streams of thought and learning that Arabic writers labeled 'aql and naql, reason and tradition. The aim of the Guide, he wrote, is to probe the mysteries of physics and metaphysics. But mysteries, to Maimonides, were not conundrums to be celebrated for their obscurity. They were problems to be solved.

Maimonides' methods and insights resonate throughout the work of later Jewish thinkers, rationalists, and mystics, and in the work of philosophers like Thomas Aquinas, Spinoza, Leibniz, and Newton. The Guide continues to inspire inquiry, discovery, and vigorous debate among philosophers, theologians, and lay readers today. Goodman and Lieberman's extensive and detailed commentary provides readers with historical context and philosophical enlightenment, giving generous access to the nuances, complexities, and profundities of what is widely agreed to be the most significant textual monument of medieval Jewish thought, a work that still offers a key to those who hope to harmonize religious commitments and scientific understanding.

About the Author:

Lenn E. Goodman is Professor of Philosophy and Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Vanderbilt University. Phillip I. Lieberman is Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and Law, Classical and Mediterranean Studies, and Religious Studies at Vanderbilt University.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Store Description

A unique collection of Classics, in religion, philosophy, history, and literature. Our principle of selection: if a book - literary, scientific, historical or theological - sheds light on ultimate questions in an excellent way, it's a worthy candidate for our shelves. An eccentric community of books cherished in an old two-story Dutch Barn house in Wichita, Kansas.

Visit Seller's Storefront

Seller's business information

Eighth Day Books, LLC
2838 E. Douglas Ave., Wichita, KS, 67214, U.S.A.

Terms of Sale:

Forms of payment: Amex, Visa, MC, Discover, check or money order.
Returns Policy: within 30 days if not as described.
Shipping: book rate $3.50 first book, .75 each additional book. Priority post
$6.50 first book, .75 each additional book. Out of country at cost.
PLEASE SPECIFY SURFACE, AIR, OR GLOBAL PRIORITY as available.
Ordering: If you wish, feel free to call 800-841-2541, anytime between 10am and 8pm CST, if you feel more comfortable giving credit card details by phone.

Shipping Terms:

Shipping costs are based on books weighing 2.2 LB, or 1 KG. If your book order is heavy or oversized, we may contact you to let you know extra shipping is required.

Payment Methods
accepted by seller

Add to Wants

Items related to Guide to the Perplexed: A New Translation

Guide to the Perplexed: A New Translation

Moses Maimonides

New - Hardcover

Seller's business information