MAIMONIDES (RABBI MOSES BEN MAIMON) (1135— 1204), also known from the initials of these last words as RAM BAM, Jewish philosopher and master of Rabbinic literature, was born in Cordova on March 3o, 1135, and educated by his father and by Arabic masters. When Cordova was taken by the vic torious Almohades in 1148 the position of the Jews became intolerable, and Maimonides, after ten years of wandering, decided to settle in Fez. Five years later he moved to Cairo where he became recognized as the greatest Rabbinic authority of his time. He was appointed body physician to Saladin, and married the sister of Ibn al Mali, one of the royal secretaries. Maimonides died on Dec. 13, In his important philosophical treatise, The Guide for the Per plexed, a work which strongly influenced his Arabian, Jewish and Christian successors, Maimonides seeks to harmonize Biblical and Rabbinic teaching with philosophy, and especially with the philosophy of Aristotle. At the same time, he recognizes that reason is limited and requires to be supplemented by revelation. The first book, which is concerned with the establishment of the spirituality of God, discusses the figurative meaning of anthro pomorphic expressions applied to God in the Scriptures, the im propriety of assigning to Him any attributes other than negative ones, and, lastly, the Mutakallmun doctrines of God and their scientific basis. Book II. proves the existence of God by the argument of the unmoved mover, and by the distinction between the necessary and the possible and between the necessary and the contingent. Aristotle's cosmology is then accepted in outline and his separate intelligences moving the celestial spheres are identified with the angels of Scripture. Aristotle's doctrine of the eternity of the world Maimonides finds less acceptable because it obviously clashes with Scripture. He suggests that the account of creation in Genesis must be interpreted allegorically, and seeks to show that while reason cannot prove the productio ex nihilo of the world, such a productio is not contrary to reason; in fact, it is more acceptable than the theory of Aristotle because it sub stitutes for the idea of mechanical necessity the conception of an intelligent being acting purposively. On the other hand, Mai
monides contends that the objections raised against the eternity of the world are unsatisfactory and that Aristotle's view may have been merely tentative. The second book ends with a dis cussion of the requisites of prophecy. Book III. treats of evil as the privation of good and as originating in free-will, of the Divine knowledge of singulars and of Providence, of design in nature, in the law and in Biblical narrative, and, lastly, of moral precepts. The Guide was published by S. Munk (3 volumes, Paris, 1856 66), English translation by M. Friedlander (3 volumes, 1881-85), reissued in one volume, of which the last edition appeared in 1925. Of the numerous other works of Maimonides the chief are the commentary on the Mishnah (Hebrew translation, Naples, 1492). The eight chapters prefaced to the commentary on tractate Abot were translated into English by J. I. Gorfinkle (New York, 1912) ; the Mishneh Torah (last edition, Leipzig, 1862, partial English translation by E. Soloweyczik, 1863) ; Kitab al-Fara'id (Hebrew translation, Lisbon, French translation by M.
Bloch, 1888) ; Responva (edition 1859) ; a work on the terminol ogy of logic (Latin translation, Venice, 1552; German translation, Breslau, 1828) and a treatise on poisons (French translation, Paris, 1865).