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Chapter 6 - His Existence Is Essentiality

Maimonides as Metaphysician

from Part III - The Creator

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2021

Daniel Frank
Affiliation:
Purdue University, Indiana
Aaron Segal
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
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Summary

Maimonides famously says some rather radical things about God – radical even by philosophical standards – both about what God is like “in Himself” and about God’s relationship with the created universe. Maimonides’ most detailed and sustained presentation of these radical ideas is in his discussion of divine attributes in chapters 50–70 of the Guide. Indeed, it seems evident that Maimonides’ point in that section is to make plain these radical ideas. To put matters rather simply and straightforwardly, the radical ideas are these: Strictly speaking, God shares nothing substantive in common with created beings, neither existence nor life nor power nor knowledge. Indeed, strictly speaking, God has no intrinsic nature at all, no attributes at all, and stands in no relations whatsoever to the created universe – save for negative attributes and attributes of action. Even speaking strictly, God does have negative attributes and does stand in whatever relations to the created universe are entailed by His having attributes of action.

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Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed
A Critical Guide
, pp. 102 - 124
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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