Maimonides' Moral Psychology

Moses Maimonides is undoubtedly the most famous rationalist of the Jewish tradition, portraying all of Torah as an intellectual project to know the deepest secrets of God and nature. This book, however, argues that this characterization of Maimonides is only partially true. Notwithstanding his focus on the primacy of intellect, he views the emotions or passions as central to the good life. Maimonides does so through imbuing his works the Mishneh Torah and Guide of the Perplexed with a series of emotions that are grounded in conflicting moral and psychological archetypes: love vs. fear, moderation vs. abstinence, courage vs. awe, anger vs. calmness, pride vs. humility, and justice vs. compassion. Maimonides' Moral Psychology contends that these contrasting emotional paradigms represent two distinct approaches to the world that exist simultaneously in Maimonides' writings. One is grounded in an understanding and imitation of nature, while the other derives from a skeptical view of the world. In combining the Aristotelian emphasis on virtue and happiness with the Biblical priority of humility and compassion, Maimonides also shows both the psychological and social dangers of each approach if it lacks the other as a corrective.

Alexander Green is an Assistant Professor of Humanities at the Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida. A scholar of Jewish thought and virtue ethics, his research is on medieval and early modern Jewish philosophy, ethics and the history of biblical interpretation. His previous publications include The Virtue Ethics of Levi Gersonides and Power and Progress: Joseph Ibn Kaspi and the Meaning of History, and numerous articles in peer-reviewed publications and edited collections. He also coedited Jewish Virtue Ethics.