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26.9.17

Maimonides and his synthesis between Faith and Reason

I have not done enough work on Maimonides to say much. Some of the main points were already brought up by Dr Kelley Ross and Sunwell that he is an arch type Kant Friesian. That is with the source of knowledge of universals being from non intuitive immediate knowledge. My personal question at this point is: "How to deal with the differences between Hegel and Kant, and where to place Maimonides in regard to their differences?" But the Middle Ages opens up a whole new range of possibilities in this regard. What I mean is the differences between Aquinas and Scotus also invites thought in regard to Maimonides. What was he thinking in terms of Human Freedom? Was he more like Aquinas or Scotus? There are plenty of mysteries about Maimonides that still require thought. The main things I find important about Maimonides are his synthesis between Faith and Reason [which was shared by most other great people during the Middle Ages]. But it is his particular approach which especially fascinates me. An approach that I am still puzzled by and also enthralled with. Just for background information: according to Kant there is a difference between direct awareness [intuition] and concepts [indirect awareness]. Sensibility is a subset of intuition. pure awareness is also a subset of intuition and that refers to awareness of universals. [This is red, and that is red, so they both share the characteristic of redness.] But to combine universals requires concepts. And the realm of concepts also is divided into two parts; form and substance. The form is the twelve categories of understanding, but each can be applied to individual things that can be experienced. The substance of concepts as a whole cannot be experienced [e.g., the universe as a whole, time as a whole, God, the soul, etc.], and therefore that is the limit of pure reason.רק למידע רקע: לפי קאנט יש הבדל בין מודעות ישירה [אינטואיציה] לבין מושגים [מודעות עקיפה]. רגישות היא תת-קבוצה של אינטואיציה. מודעות טהורה היא גם תת-קבוצה של אינטואיציה וזה מתייחס למודעות לאוניברסלים. [זה אדום, וזה אדום, כך ששניהם חולקים את המאפיין של אדמומיות.] אבל כדי לשלב אוניברסלים נדרשים מושגים. וגם תחום המושגים מחולק לשני חלקים; צורה וחומר. הצורה היא שתים עשרה קטגוריות של הבנה, אבל כל אחת מהן יכולה להיות מיושמת על דברים בודדים שניתן לחוות. את מהות המושגים בכללותה לא ניתן לחוות [למשל, היקום בכללותו, הזמן בכללותו, אלוהים, הנשמה וכו'], ולכן זהו גבול התבונה הטהורה The importance of this is to define the limits of reason, and shows where the area of faith begins.