Major Works
Commentary on the Mishnah
- The Commentary on the Mishnah has not been translated into English in its entirety. However, there are translations of Maimonides' introduction to Pirqe Aboth called "The Eight Chapters." English translation of Eight Chapters, Introduction to Commentary on Avoth by Joseph Isaac Gorfinkle, New York: Columbia UP, 1912.Maimonides’ first major work sought to give a clear, accessible and practical explanation of Jewish Law as it is laid out in the Mishnah, the first and most authoritative systematization and reorganization of Jewish Law, probably completed around 200… MoreGuide of the Perplexed
- Recommended translation: The Guide of the Perplexed. Translated with an introduction and notes by Shlomo Pines.With an introductory essay by Leo Strauss. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1963. Originally composed in Arabic, in 1190.The Guide presents the Law and philosophy as espousing two different, even contradictory views of the world. The perplexity induced by these two different worldviews is Maimonides’ main subject in the Guide.
Other Works
Epistle to Yemen (1172)
- Recommended Translation: Trans. Joel Kraemer in Maimonides’ Empire of Light (Chicago: 2000), pp. 99-13Letters and Essays: Some important examplesTreatise on Resurrection (1191)
- Trans. Hillel Fradkin in Maimonides’ Empire of Light (Chicago: 2000), pp. 154-177.Letters and Essays: Some important examples
Commentary
Philosophy and the Law
-Strauss, Leo. Philosophy and the Law, Tr. Eve Adler. Albany, 1995. Translation of Philosophie und Gesetz: Beiträge zum Verständnis Maimunis und seiner Vorläufer. Berlin, 1935.
on The Guide of the PerplexedThe Literary Character of The Guide for the Perplexed
-Strauss, Leo. “The Literary Character of The Guide for the Perplexed.” In Essays on Maimonides. Ed. S. W. Baron. New York, 1941: 37-91. rprt. Persecution and the Art of Writing: 38-94.
on The Guide of the PerplexedEssays on Maimonides: An Octocentennial Volume
-Essays on Maimonides: An Octocentennial Volume, ed. Salo W. Baron. New York, 1941
Persecution and the Art of Writing
-Strauss, Leo. Persecution and the Art of Writing. Glencoe, Ill., 1952.
on The Guide of the PerplexedWhat is Political Philosophy? And Other Studies
-Strauss, Leo. What is Political Philosophy? And Other Studies. Glencoe, Il., 1959.
on The Guide of the PerplexedHow To Begin To Study The Guide of the Perplexed
-Strauss, Leo. “How To Begin To Study The Guide of the Perplexed.” Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed. trans. S. Pines: xi-lvi. rprt. Liberalism Ancient and Modern: 140-84.
on The Guide of the PerplexedThe Revealed and the Concealed—Providence, Prophecy, Miracle and Creation in the Guide
-Kravitz, Leonard S. “The Revealed and the Concealed—Providence, Prophecy, Miracle and Creation in the Guide.” CCAR Yearbook 16 (1969): 2-30, and (1971): 59-62.
On The Guide of the PerplexedSamuel Ibn Tibbon and the Esoteric Character of The Guide of the Perplexed
-Ravitzky, Aviezer. “Samuel Ibn Tibbon and the Esoteric Character of The Guide of the Perplexed.” Association of Jewish Studies Review 6 (1981): 87-23.
On The Guide of the PerplexedThe Secrets of The Guide of the Perplexed: Between the Thirteenth and the Twentieth Centuries
-Ravitzky, Aviezer. “The Secrets of The Guide of the Perplexed: Between the Thirteenth and the Twentieth Centuries.” Studies in Maimonides. ed. Isadore Twersky: 159–207.
On The Guide of the PerplexedNotes on Maimonides’ Book of Knowledge
-Strauss, Leo. “Notes on Maimonides’ Book of Knowledge.” In Studies in Mysticism and Religion presented to Gershom G. Scholem on his Seventieth Birthday by Pupils, Colleagues and Friends. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1967. Rprt. In Strauss, Leo. Studies in Platonic Political Philosophy. Chicago, University of Chicago Press 1983: 192-204.
On the Mishneh TorahStudies in Platonic Political Philosophy
-Strauss, Leo. Studies in Platonic Political Philosophy. Chicago, 1983.
on The Guide of the PerplexedExoteric Teaching
-Strauss, Leo. “Exoteric Teaching.” Ed. K. Green. Interpretation 14 (1986): 51-59. rprt. The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism: 63-71.
on The Guide of the PerplexedMaimonides and Philosophy: Papers Presented at the Sixth Jerusalem Philosophical Encounter
-Maimonides and Philosophy: Papers Presented at the Sixth Jerusalem Philosophical Encounter. May, 1985. (Dordrecht, 1986) edited by Shlomo Pines and Yirmiyahu Yovel
Maimonides
- Lerner, Ralph. “Maimonides.” A History of Political Philosophy. ed. Joseph Cropsy and Leo Strauss. Chicago, 1963: 181-99. 2nd ed. Chicago, 1987: 203-22.Excerpt: “If one is to discuss the objects and character or law, one must proceed from an understanding of the beings for whose sake a law is made. Maimonides proceeds accordingly; in his Guide of the Perplexed, he examines the need for law before… MoreThe Hidden Doctrine of Maimonides’ Guide for the Perplexed: Philosophical and Religious God-Language in Tension
-Kravitz, Leonard S. The Hidden Doctrine of Maimonides’ Guide for the Perplexed: Philosophical and Religious God-Language in Tension. Lewiston, N. Y., 1988.
On The Guide of the PerplexedThe Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism: an Introduction to the Thought of Leo Strauss: Essays and Lectures
-Strauss, Leo. The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism: an Introduction to the Thought of Leo Strauss: Essays and Lectures; selected and introduced by Thomas L. Pangle. Chicago, 1989.
on The Guide of the PerplexedMoses Maimonides and His Time
- Moses Maimonides and His Time. ed. E. Ormsby. Catholic University, Washington DC. 1989Studies in Maimonides
- Studies in Maimonides. ed. Isadore Twersky. Cambridge Mass., 1990.The Thought of Moses Maimonides
-The Thought of Moses Maimonides. ed. Lawrence Kaplan, Ira Robinson, and Julien Bauer, Edwin Mellen Press,1991
Interpreting Maimonides: Studies in Methodology, Metaphysics, and Moral Philosophy
-Fox, Marvin . Interpreting Maimonides: Studies in Methodology, Metaphysics, and Moral Philosophy. Chicago, 1994.
on The Guide of the PerplexedMaimonides in the Sultan’s Palace by Steven Harvey
-Harvey, Steven. “Maimonides in the Sultan’s Palace.” Perspectives on Maimonides: Philosophical and Historical Studies. ed. Joel L. Kraemer: 47-75. The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 1997.
A biography of Moses MaimonidesAbulafia’s Secrets of the Guide: a Linguistic Turn
-Idel, Moshe. “Abulafia’s Secrets of the Guide: a Linguistic Turn.” Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale 4 (1998): 495-528.
on The Guide of the PerplexedOn Maimonides’ Allegorical Reading of Scripture
-Harvey, Warren Ze’ev. “On Maimonides’ Allegorical Reading of Scripture.” Interpretation and Allegory: Antiquity to the Modern Period. Ed. John Whitman. Brill, 2000: 181-188.
on The Guide of the PerplexedThe ‘Seventh Cause’: On Contradictions in Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed
-Lorberboim, Yair. “The ‘Seventh Cause’: On Contradictions in Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed.” Tarbiz 69 (2000): 211-237
On The Guide of the PerplexedStudies in Medieval Jewish History and Literature
-Studies in Medieval Jewish History and Literature. ed. Isadore Twersky. 3 vols. Cambridge, Mass., 1979-2000.
Maimonides and the Hermeneutics of Concealment
- James Diamond, Maimonides and the Hermeneutics of Concealment: Deciphering Scripture and Midrash in the Guide of the Perplexed , SUNY Press, Albany, N.Y. –Jewish Philosophy Series. February, 2002From the publisher: Maimonides and the Hermeneutics of Concealment demonstrates the type of hermeneutic that the medieval Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides (1138-1204) engaged in throughout his treatise, The Guide of the Perplexed. By comprehensively… MoreEsoteric Knowledge and the Vulgar: Parallels Between Newton and Maimonides
- Faur, J. “Esoteric Knowledge and the Vulgar: Parallels Between Newton and Maimonides.” Trumah 12 (2002): 183-191.on The Guide of the PerplexedOn Contradictions, Rationality, Dialectics, and Esotericism in Maimonides’s Guide of the Perplexed
-Lorberboim, Yair. “On Contradictions, Rationality, Dialectics, and Esotericism in Maimonides’s Guide of the Perplexed.” Review of Metaphysics 55 (2002): 95-134.
On The Guide of the PerplexedMatter, Metaphor, and Private Pointing: Maimonides on the Complexity of Human Being
-Pessin, Sarah. “Matter, Metaphor, and Private Pointing: Maimonides on the Complexity of Human Being.” American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 76 (2002): 75-88.
On The Guide of the PerplexedMaimonidean Scholarship At The End Of The Century
-Samuelson, Norbert. “Maimonidean Scholarship At The End Of The Century.” Association of Jewish Studies Review 26 (2002): 93-107.
On The Guide of the PerplexedThe Place of the Doctrine of Providence according to Maimonides
-Strauss, Leo. “The Place of the Doctrine of Providence according to Maimonides.” Tr. G. Bartlett and S. Minkov. The Review of Metaphysics 57 (2004): 537-549.
on The Guide of the PerplexedThe Cambridge Companion to Maimonides
-The Cambridge Companion to Maimonides. Ed. Kenneth Seeskin. Cambridge University Press, Illinois, 2005
Concealment and Revelation: Esotericism in Jewish Thought and its Philosophical Implications
- Halbertal, M. Concealment and Revelation: Esotericism in Jewish Thought and its Philosophical Implications. trans. Jackie Feldman. Princeton, N. J., 2007.on The Guide of the PerplexedMaimonides after 800 Years: Essays on Maimonides and His Influence
-Maimonides after 800 Years: Essays on Maimonides and His Influence. ed. Jay M. Harris. Cambridge, Mass. & London. 2008.
Moses Maimonides: The Man and His Works
- Davidson, Herbert. Moses Maimonides: The Man and His Works. Oxford, 2010Biography of Moses MaimonidesOn the Interpretation of Maimonides: The Cases of Samuel David Luzzatto and Ahad Ha‘am
- Motzkin, Aryeh Leo. “On the Interpretation of Maimonides: The Cases of Samuel David Luzzatto and Ahad Ha‘am.” In Aryeh Leo Motzkin, Philosophy and the Jewish Tradition, ed. Yehuda Halper. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2011: 125-142.On The Guide of the PerplexedLeo Strauss on Maimonides
-Strauss, Leo. Leo Strauss on Maimonides: The Complete Writings. Ed. Kenneth Hart Green. Chicago, U Chicago Press, 2013.
Matter and Form of Maimonides’ Guide
- Stern, Josef. The Matter and Form of Maimonides' Guide. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 2013.Leo Strauss and the Rediscovery of Maimonides
-Green, Kenneth Hart. Leo Strauss and the Rediscovery of Maimonides. Chicago, 2013.
on The Guide of the Perplexed