The Eight Chapters of Maimonides on Ethics - Shemonah Perakim: A Psychological And Ethical Treatise

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The rational part is the power peculiar to man by which he understands, thinks, acquires knowledge, and discriminates between proper and improper actions. This manifold activity of the rational part is both practical and speculative. The practical activities are partly mechanical ( מלאכת מחשבת‎) and partly intellectual. The speculative activities are the powers of man by which he knows things which, by their nature, are not ​subject to change. These are called the sciences. The mechanical power is that by which man learns the arts, as that of architecture, agriculture, medicine, or navigation. The intellectual power is that by which man reflects upon the possibility or manner of doing an intended action. The soul, which is a unit, but which has many powers or parts, bears the same relation to the intellect ( השכל‎) as matter does to form. Mishnah sive totius Hebraeorum juris, rituum, antiquitatum, ac legum oralium systema cum Maimonidis et Bartenorae commentariis integris. Accedunt variorum auctorum notae Latinate donavit G. Surenhusius. Amsterdaedami, 1698-1703. De Acht Hoofdstukken van Maimonides. Bevattende zijne Zielkundige Verhandeling. Het Hebreeuwsch op nieuw nagezien en in het Nederduitsch vertaald. [103] Groningen, S. J. Oppenheim, 1845. But, what exactly is piety? Is it anything more than simple goodness; and if it is, can I achieve it or is it beyond me? Would being pious make me somehow antisocial and aloof, sad and sombre?

There is no way I can continue to read this, maybe it gets better later, but it's just not for me. All the MC does is meditate and fish every day. Yes, I'm oversimplifying it, but in essence that's it. There is SO MUCH interesting info in this book! I know not everyone is going to froth at the mouth over learning how couples interact with each other, but I seriously couldn’t get enough. It’s all so interesting to me, discovering what is “normal” and what actually creates a lasting connection, especially when it doesn’t necessarily match up with what I expected. Some of my favorite insights: In any event, Rambam’s point here in “Eight Chapters” is that the same holds true of the seemingly straightforward words of Pirke Avot (“The Ethics of the Fathers”). Though what’s said there certainly works on a clearly ethical, inspirational level, so much of it nonetheless alludes to deeper, more portentous things than we might have expected. And it touches upon things that very much affect our spiritual status.

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This book was fantastic! I really enjoy fantasy stories… greek mythology, Billionaire, Romance vampires, I love it all… and this book had it all and then some. Anything fantasy or mythological, was in this book. I really enjoyed how Cornell was able to bring them all together in a way that was seamless and natural (or at least as natural as made-up things can be). What I mean is that when I learned these mythological characters were all in it I thought it was a recipe for disaster, but actually it works brilliantly. In the Moreh, which appeared at least twenty-five years after the Com. on the Mishnah, there are twelve or more references to the latter, four of which are to the Peraḳim. See Moreh, I, 39; III, 35 (twice), 48. Scheyer, in Das psychologische System des Maimonides (Frankfurt a. M., 1845), which he designated as an introduction to the Moreh, draws largely from the Peraḳim, and constantly refers to them in the notes. See especially Chaps. I, II, and IV. Munk, in the notes in his Guide, refers a number of times to the Mish. Com., many of these being to the Peraḳim. In Vol. I, p. 210, n. 1, he quotes at length from Peraḳim I on the rational faculty, and on p. 232, n. 1, from Peraḳim VIII on the attributes of God. Other references are found in Vol. I, p. 125, n. 2, to Peraḳim II (the classification of the virtues); p. 286, n. 3, to Peraḳim VIII (miracles); p. 355, n. 1, to Peraḳim I (the faculties); p. 400, n. 2, to Peraḳim I (the theory of imagination of the Mutakallimun); etc. Cod. 260. Maḥzor . . . Accedunt Pirke Avoth seu Capitula patrum cum com. M. . . . memb. rabb. fol. min. sec. XV. M. com. Pirke Av. et epistola de resurrectione sunt ex versione R. Samuelis Aben Tib.; ac prior ille praefixaim, habet fucam auctonus praefationem, seu Capitula de facultati bus animae. Samuel ibn Tibbon, [53] the most famous of an illustrious family of translators, by his translation of Maimonides' Moreh Nebukim, performed an inestimable service for Jewish philosophy. Written originally in Arabic, the Moreh would have remained a sealed book to the majority of Jews, had not Ibn Tibbon rendered it accessible. Had he not translated it, no doubt some one sooner or later would have accomplished that task, but it was very fortunate that one who was a contemporary of Maimonides, who had his entire confidence, and who could correspond with the author in regard to obscure passages, and receive valuable instructions from him, should have done the work. From the correspondence between Maimonides and the men of Lünel, Ibn Tibbon's birthplace, we note that Maimonides had a high regard for Samuel's ability as a translator, and honored him as a man of erudition. [54] It seems that the scholars of Lünel wrote to Maimonides asking him to translate the Moreh into Hebrew, but the answer came that Ibn Tibbon was already at work on it, and that Maimonides had faith in the translator. [55] He considered Ibn Tibbon a capable and skilled translator, and wondered at his knowledge of Arabic, although he did not live in an Arabic-speaking country.

Mi = Mishnah text with Commentary of Maimonides, Naples, 1492; printed by Joshua Soncino. [78] This is the first edition of the Mishnah. The copy used by the editor is found in the library of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. It has marginal notes offering corrections, as well as some interlinear insertions. It agrees substantially with So, its source evidently being the same, both being Soncino editions. Variants from it are recorded in the notes only when differing from those of So. See H. Deot, I, and II for a list and discussion of the virtues. Aristotle mentions and discussess the following virtues in Eth. Nic.; courage (II, 7, and III, 6-9), perfected self-mastery or temperance (II, 7, and III, 10-11), liberality (II, 7, and IV, 1), magnificence (II, 7 and IV, 2), greatness of soul (II, 7, and IV, 3), love of honor (II, 7, and IV, 4), gentleness (II, 7, and IV, 5), friendliness (II, 7, and IV, 6), truthfulness (II, 7. and IV, 7), jocularity or liveliness (II, 7, and IV, 8), and modesty (II, 7, and IV, 9). Cf., also, Eudemian Ethics, II, 3, where a formal table is given contaning fourteen virtues and their respective pairs of extremes; and Mag. Mor. I, 20 ff. Aristotle also mentions the paucity of terms to express the nice distinctions he makes ( Eth. Nic., II, 7). Glosses which can be traced to Ibn Tibbon are printed in small type. All other glosses are put in the notes. Rosin, Ethik, p. 37, “Die Ethik ist also nach M. die Lehre von den Tugenden und den guten Handlungen.”The main idea of a solidarity dividend is clear in this chapter, as the author discusses integrated schools. Studies have shown that it is beneficial for white students to attend diverse schools. Once the study controlled for socioeconomic status, it found that white students’ test scores were not lower based upon whether they attended a predominately white school or a diverse one. Moreover, students who attend diverse schools are more empathetic and understanding of differences and, therefore, more able to work in a diverse workplace, a key to success. We have, indeed, digressed from the subject of this chapter, but have, I hope, satisfactorily solved one of the most difficult passages of Scripture concerning which there has been much arguing in the attempt to state exactly what the sin was which Moses committed. Let what others have said be compared with our opinion, and the truth will surely prevail. I read one of Gottman’s earlier books called The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work when my husband and I were having a rough time just after we were married. It absolutely changed the way I approached our relationship, and it helped us both better communicate so we could come together to work through our issues and move on.