Would you believe us if we told you that a ninth century forgery, attributed to one of the greatest philosophers of all time, went on to fool centuries of readers and introduce its true author, one of the greatest mystics of the west, to the world of medieval philosophy?

Exploring Maimonides' struggle with the peculiar notion of God that he adopts from the Theology of Aristotle. Join us to learn about Maimonides Apophatic/Negative Theology, Creation vs Emanation, Immanence and Transcendence, Contradiction and Humility.

Thank you to Shalem College for hosting this week's vid: https://shalem.ac.il/en/ and thank you to Chezi and Seth for connecting us.

00:00 The Philosopher and the Mystic

00:57 The Forgery

06:21 Neoplatonism

10:43 Primary themes of the Theology

13:30 A Theological Mix

15:28 Pure Being, Negative Theology

20:06 Creation vs Emanation

23:24 Immanence and Transcendence

24:51 Contradiction and Humility

Sources and Further Reading

Alexander Altmann, "Maimonides on the Intellect and the Scope of Metaphysics," in idem, Von der mittelalterlichen zur modernen Aufklärung, Tübingen: Mohr, 1987, 60-129, at 123.

Alfred Ivry, "Islamic and Greek Influences on Maimonides' Philosophy," in Maimonides and Philosophy, 1986, p. 149-51

Alfred Ivry, ‘Isma’ili Theology and Maimonides’ Philosophy,’ in The Jews of Medieval Islam, 1995, p. 280.

Alfred Ivry, “Neoplatonic Currents in Maimonides’ Thought,” in Perspectives on Maimonides, ed. Joel Kraemer, London: Littman, 1996, 115–140

Alfred Ivry, Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed: A Philosophical Guide, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016, p. 38

Arthur Hyman, "Maimonides on Religious Language," in Perspectives on Maimonides (see note 6), 175-91

Christian Wildberg, "Neoplatonism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2021 Edition)

Cristina D’Ancona, “The Theology attributed to Aristotle: Sources, Structure, Influence,” In The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Philosophy, New York, Oxford University Press, 2017

Cristina D'Ancona, "Pseudo- Theology of Aristotle, Chapter 1: Structure and Composition," Oriens 36 (2001): 78-112.

Cristina D'Ancona, "The Arabic “Theology of Aristotle”" In obo in Classics. 2 May. 2022.

Diana Lobel, “Silence Is Praise to You” Maimonides on Negative Theology, Looseness of Expression, and Religious Experience, in American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly vol. 76, no. 1, 2002

Elliot Wolfson “Via Negativa in Maimonides and Its Impact on Thirteenth- Century Kabbalah.” In Maimonidean Studies 5, 2008

F.W. Zimmerman, "The Origins of the So-Called Theology of Aristotle," in Pseudo-Aristotle in the Middle Ages, London: Warburg Institute, 1986, 110-24.

Herbert A. Davidson, Moses Maimonides: The Man and His Works, 2001, p. 111

Ithamar Gruenwald, “Maimonides’ Quest beyond Philosophy and Prophecy,” in Perspectives, ed. J. L. Kraemer (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), pp. 145.

Kraemer, “Maimonides and the Spanish Aristotelian School,” p. 45

Moshe Idel, "Jewish Kabbalah and Platonism in the Middle Ages and Renaissance," in Neoplatonism and Jewish Thought, 1992, pp. 338-43;

Paul Fenton, "The Arabic and Hebrew Versions of the Theology of Aristotle,” in Pseudo-Aristotle in the Middle Ages 241-64.

Peter Adamson, The Arabic Plotinus: A Philosophical Study of the 'Theology of Aristotle,’ 2002

Sarah Pessin, The Influence of Islamic Thought on Maimonides, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2005

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