Date of Award
2016
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Philosophy
Abstract
This paper focuses on Maimonides’ The Guide of the Perplexed and Spinoza’s Theological‐Political Treatise and their divergent answers to the question as to whether the knowledge acquired through reason alone can be reconciled with Scripture’s content and teachings. Both Maimonides and Spinoza believed that the true understanding of what the Bible says could be achieved by the correct method of biblical interpretation. I show that despite approaching the question of philosophy’s relationship to religion in a similar way, their very different answers are readily understandable in light of each author’s pre‐existing philosophical and religious commitments. The Guide, published in 1190, and the TPT, published in 1670, create a kind of dialogue, with Spinoza’s later work referring back both explicitly and by inference to Maimonides, as Spinoza challenges both Maimonides’ methodology and conclusions in The Guide.
Recommended Citation
Feder, Randi, "Maimonides and Spinoza: Biblical Interpretation" (2016). Master's Theses. 3131.
https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/3131
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2016 Randi Feder
