Title: Maimonides and Spinoza : their conflicting views of human nature /
Authors: Parens, Joshua, 1961-
Year: 2012
Subjects: Maimonides, Moses,; Spinoza, Benedictus de,; Theological anthropology Judaism; Philosophical anthropology.
Abstract: This is a revision of predominant understanding of the philosophers Maimonides and Spinoza. It was agreed that Maimonides was a great defender of Judaism, and Spinoza an Enlightenment advocate for secularization. A new scholarly consensus has recently emerged that the teachings of the two philosophers were in fact much closer than was thought.
Contents: Desire (shahwa) and spiritedness (ghaḍab) vs. conatus -- Veneration vs. equality -- Forms vs. laws of nature -- Freedom vs. determinism -- Teleology vs. imagined ideal -- Prudence vs. imagination -- Epilogue -- Appendix: Richard Kennington's Spinoza and esotericism in Spinoza's thought.