Abstract

The Introduction presents the basic premises of the book. It introduces a series of conflicting models of the passions that appear in Maimonides’ work. It shows how these passions are grounded in antithetical moral and psychological archetypes: love versus fear, moderation versus abstinence, courage versus awe, anger versus calmness, pride versus humility, and justice versus compassion. One is grounded in a comprehension of the hierarchy of the natural world leading to the imitation of God and nature, while the other is based on a skeptical understanding of the world that recognizes fundamental limits to human understanding of the higher metaphysical realms. The former sees human beings as unique among physical beings by possessing an intellectual commonality with God and the angels, while the latter argues that human beings are weak and fragile creatures whose feckless nature requires mercy and compassion. These conflicting passions in Maimonides’ work are rooted in two distinct models of the human soul. One model of the human soul is derived from Aristotle and the other originates in a conflicting Neoplatonic conception of the human soul. The former understands the soul as giving function and organization to the physical matter of the human body, while the latter views the soul as a spiritual and non-physical essence that is mixed with matter, which will ultimately liberate itself from the body and unify itself with God.