The Guide of the Perplexed, Volume 1

"One of the most important contributions to the study of Maimonides . . . The translation is of a quality unequaled in a modern language."—Journal of the History of Philosophy

 


This monument of rabbinical exegesis written at the end of the twelfth century has exerted an immense and continuing influence upon Jewish thought. It has also been a formative element in the thinking of leading Christian writers and philosophers down through the seventeenth century.


 


The Guide is not a philosophical treatise. Its aim is to liberate people from the tormenting perplexities arising from their understanding of the Bible according only to its literal meaning. This edition contains extensive introductions by Shlomo Pines and Leo Strauss, a leading authority on Maimonides.


 


"An important volume which is unlikely to be surpassed for a long time."—Times Literary Supplement