by Moses Maimonides
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Product Description
According to Wikipedia, "Moses Maimonides (March 30, 1135 Cordoba, Spain ? December 13, 1204 Fostat, Egypt), was a rabbi, physician, and philosopher in Andalusia, Morocco and Egypt during the Middle Ages. He was one of the various medieval Jewish philosophers who also influenced the non-Jewish world. Although his copious works on Jewish law and ethics were initially met with opposition during his lifetime, he was posthumously acknowledged to be one of the foremost rabbinical arbiters and philosophers in Jewish history. Today, his works and his views are considered a cornerstone of Jewish thought and study." On 6/10/2008 we added an active (hyperlinked) table of contents, with links to each of the 178 chapters. Click on a chapter to go to it. Push the Back button to return to the Table of Contents.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 SECOND EDITION, 2008-10-22
Reviewers have noted that the book offered is the second editon of Guide.
The translator-editor notes that this edition is highly simplified from the First edition, omitting much Hebrew wording and footnotes. The text here is still long. No-one who wishes to understand RAMBAM and his genius should read any abbreviated version, neither Guide nor M. Torah.
This text is available free on Google, and may be downloaded into pdf.
There, print size is fine--big in other words.
It should be noted that the cited translator did not translate much of the book. He credits the actual translators as applicable.
I do not agree that only those versed in rabbinic lore and law should read Maimonides. Guide is much harder to understand than M. Torah. His discussion of the comparison between the Prophets and Aristotle is quite interesting. The fact that he surrendered to biblical principle Aristotle's notion that the Universe is Eternal is not quite clear here or anywhere as to whether RAMBAM accepted the rationalle offered later by Nachmonides that the miracles disappear if the universe is eternal or if RAMBAM simply went with convention. (As honoring the tradition that the male is the only biological parent, while knowing science has proved this false) It should be recognized that Maimonides is not rejecting science; he does not compare the prophets to science, but to Aristotle. As Aristotle was a highly imperfect scientist, Maimonides is in fact accepting one metaphysical statement over another, but the truth of the universe's creation in time or its eternality was not known then and is not known now. Maimonides says that death occurs for individuals in order that types can survive. This is closer to a scientific notion; and the fact that it runs counter to TANACH does not bother him much.
Maimonides may be seen as Darwin before Darwin, as Einstein in an age before science, the inspiration of Spinoza. Guide differes from M-Torah in that in Guide Maimonides is interested in truth, both Truth and truth, whereas in M. Torah he records and summerizes the words and thoughts of others.
As I do not read 12th century Jewish Arabic and am unlikely to learn, I cannot speak to the accuracy of the translation. The Hebrew translation was done during RAMBAM's own lifetime, but I know of no comments he made on the translation. I recommend the screen version, not because it is better, as both are the inferior 2nd edition, but because of print size.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Great Book; poor Kindle implementation, 2008-05-02
After further trying to use the Kindle version of The Guide I have decided that it is just unusable. The entire book is one long unbroken stream of text. The beginnings of chapters aren't highlighted or separated using line breaks. Even footnotes are embedded right in with the text. Unfortunately Amazon won't let me change my original star ranking. But I'd rate this implementation as one star. I needn't emphasize that his is a great book. Also, I have no problem with the dated 100-plus year old style of the translation. It is the implementation for the Kindle that leaves much to be desired. There is no active table of contents. This makes navigation very difficult. I started reading after finally finding the beginning of the text after paging through page after page of the inactive TOC. Then my Kindle "hiccupped" and restarted itself at the home page. I was not amused at having to page through the same inactive TOC to find the text that I had been reading. I would be much more putout if I had spent a lot of money for it. At $0.99 it is still worthwhile buying. Just remember that you will have to take the time to put in your own navigation bookmarks.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Typeface Small and Uncomfortable, 2007-05-14
My review and rating is restricted to a comment regarding the small typeface which makes this edition a difficult read. If an edition can be obtained with a larger typeface, I would recommend it, even at some additional expense.
(Aside from this comment regarding the typeface; obviously, Maimonides does not need my approbation.)
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
 Guide for the Perplexed keeps on showing the way., 2006-07-14
Yes, this is a true classic. Though there have been many works written since this jewel was first written, it still shines as a jewel in the crown of the Torah.
The translation may not be of the order of some of the more recent interpretations, yet it remains clear and lucid. There is littel interpolation in the translated text ( a difficult ask). This edition keeps the classic cover, and surely remains an essential component in any discerning thinkers library. Whether you are Jewish or not, this seminal text is one that can only benefit the thinking reader.
This edition has good, sturdy paper (ok, it is not parchment standard, but at this price, what more do you want?). Its binding is equal to much more expensive books, and its size ensures it will be used again and again.
Read and enjoy (even if you disagree with the text) and you will understand why "From Moses to Moses, there is no-one like Moses!"
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Another Guide for the Perplexed, 2006-06-09
Maimonides offers an interesting perspective on the questions of theology. As told in the introduction, Maimonides rose from relative obscurity to a high level of academic merit very quickly due to his clear and distinct understanding and interpretations of the scripture. Indeed, his insights are what this book is all about. It is not an exhaustive study of all of the questions raised in the old testament, nor of other inquiries into the various properties of the divine, but it covers a lot. I found the text to be a little dry; not as captivating as a Platonic dialogue, but not as confusing as, say, one of Aristotle's essays. Were I to do it again, I might reconsider buying this edition because the type is quite small and Maimonides covers a lot of ground in little space, so I found my self using up the margins while trying to keep up with his thoughts. One of the nice things about this edition, however, is that it is in one volume, the entire guide to the perplexed. I found other editions, with larger print and such, but nothing besides this has the complete text. Moreover, it's cheaper than everything else I found! The translation is descent to good. It was done in the late 19th century, so you might say that it's a little dated, but it doesn't effect your reading. I read this book during a college seminar at St. John's, if you were wondering why I would have read this thing in the first palce. Speaking of which, I don't know if I'll ever really read this book again. This may be an important point, because while owning a book means you can do with it as you please, if you don't read it again, then it's just dead weight.
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