Maimonides and St. Thomas on the Limits of Reason 0791424154, 0791424162

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MAIMONIDES AND ST. THOMAS ON THE LIMITS OF REASON

SUNY SERIES IN PHILOSOPHY GEORGE

R.

LUCAS, JR., EDITOR

MAIMONIDES AND ST. THOMAS ON THE LIMITS OF REASON

IDIT DOBBS-WEINSTEIN

STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 1995 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address State University of New York Press, State University Plaza, Albany, N.Y. 12246 Production by M. R. Mulholland Marketing by Dana E. Yanulavich

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dobbs-Weinstein, Idit, 1950Maimonides and St. Thomas on the limits of reason/ Idit Dobbs -Weinstein. p. cm. - (SUNY series in philosophy) Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN 0-7914-2415-4 (alk. paper). - ISBN 0-7914-2416-2 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Maimonides, Moses, 1135-1204. 2. Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, 1225?-1274. 3. Philosophy, Medieval. 4. Faith and reason. I. Title. II. Title: Maimonides and Saint Thomas on the limits of reason. III. Series. B759.M34D62 1995 181 '.06-dc20

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

94-3369 CIP

In Memory of my Father Ephraim (Alfred) Weinstein (1910-1984) @)

CONTENTS Apologia and Acknowledgments

ix

Abbreviations

XI

Introduction 1. Maimonides and Aquinas as Interpreters The Development of Philosophical, Biblical Exegesis Maimonides' and Aquinas' Approaches to Interpretation Interpretation as a Philosophical Practice

13 13 16 20

2. The Book of Job Early Approaches to the Book of Job The Nature of the Inquiry Maimonides' Account of Job Aquinas' Exposition on Job

39 39 41 45 52

3. The Account of the Beginning or Creation Introduction Maimonides' Arguments for Creation Aquinas' Arguments for Creation

61 61 63 76

4. Matter, Privation, and Evil Introduction Maimonides' Ambivalence Toward Matter Aquinas' Understanding of Matter, Privation, and Evil

89 89 90 102

5. Natural Human Perfection and Its Limits Introduction The Nature of the Human Soul According to Maimonides Aquinas and the Harmony of the Soul Conclusion

113 113 115 126 138

6. Divine Law as a Perfection of Philosophical Ethics Introduction The Limits of Philosophical Ethics According to Maimonides Divine Sanction as Universal Imperative

141 141 142 146

viii

Contents The Limits of Legislative Reason The Displacement of Legislative Reason by Divine Law Conclusion

155 160 168

7. Hubris, Knowledge, and Provident Participation Introduction The Problem of Job Modes of Participating Providence Conclusion: Excess and Reticence

171 171 172 178 185

Endnotes

199

Bibliography

261

Name Index

273

Subject Index

275

APOLOGIA AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In a manner of speaking, this book has its origin in my early childhood or, more precisely, in my first encounter with the Disaster (Shoah). My continued preoccupation with the history of philosophy, or with philosophy's appropria­ tions and suppressions of its history, is, quite simply, the manifestation of an attempt to understand the irreducible tension between reason and ethics, the true and the good or just, precisely in the face of Modernity's attempt to conceal such a tension by reducing truth to certainty and justice to its practical appli­ cation. Modernity's failure to accomplish its theoretical promise or fulfill its practical end, freeing "Humanity" from its dogmatic slumber and theologico­ political bondage, when it is coupled (as it should be) with the triumph of the progressive, instrumental rationality manifest in this century's "Disaster," demand a response. Indeed, numerous responses have been forthcoming. Ironically, most, if not all, of them, "Analytic" as well as "Continental," sub­ scribe to Modernity's judgment about medieval philosophy and, hence, either ignore it altogether or ignore significant, non-Western, silenced aspects of it, including those whose influence upon the Christian, Latin tradition are neces­ sary for understanding the Western philosophical tradition. Rather than attempt either to escape reason's disastrous consequences into some other, more humane discourse, "create" an entirely new philosophy, or persevere in a belief in an as yet to be fulfilled progress, in this book I seek to retrieve reflections on the limits of reason and their consequences for the possibilities of knowledge and action by two, major medieval philosophers, Moses Maimonides and St. Thomas Aquinas. Rather than being idiosyncratic, the choice of retrieving the "dialogue" between the non-Western, Jewish Maimonides and the Western, Christian Aquinas renders possible an appreciation of the importance of occluded aspects of the premodem philosophical tradition for understanding the Western tradition and for "discovering" its silenced possibilities. Owing to the long history of the book gestation, I owe debts of gratitude to more individuals than I can probably recall, especially to former teachers, colleagues and students. To the late John Briickmann I am indebted for his encouragements to pursue graduate work in medieval philosophy, in general, the influence of Maimonides on Thomas Aquinas, in particular. To the late Frank (Ephraim) Talmage and to James P. Reilly, Jr., I am indebted for their dedicated supervision of my advanced graduate work. To the late David Rapport Lachterman, I am indebted for many long, inspiring conversations

X

Acknowledgments

and extensive comments on an earlier draft of the book. To Tom Gaskill and Julie R. Klein, I am indebted for their probing questions in graduate seminars and conversations on medieval philosophy. I would like to thank my senior colleague, John Lachs, for his support and encouragement in the final, hence, agonizing preparation of the book for publication. I also want to thank the philosophy department's secretaries, Judy Thompson and Stella Thompson for their extensive help and patience. Finally, my debt to my daughter, Sophia Bella Dobbs, for twenty-one years of loving patience, and to my friend, Emily Whitcomb, for her loving encouragement, is greater than I can express.

ABBREVIATIONS With the exception of the following abbreviations of scholarly journals, series, and publishers' names, all abbreviated titles are provided in the first reference noted in the text. CCSL CCARJ PAAJR PIMS

Corpus Christianorum Series Latina Central Conference of American Rabbis' Journal Proceedings of the American Academy of Jewish Research Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies

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