Philosophy and Theology

Volume 18, Issue 2, 2006

Leaving the Garden
Maimonides and Spinoza on the Imagination and Practical Intellect Revisited

A whirl surrounds Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed 1.2. He seems to argue, there, that good and evil are merely concerns of the imagination. In the prophetology, Guide 2.32–48, Maimonides never refers to practical intellect or prudence. Recent interpreters have inferred that the imagination takes the place of practical intellect in Maimonides’ practical teaching. This paper seeks to show that, in keeping with earlier works such as Eight Chapters, Maimonides continues to rely on practical intellect throughout the Guide as an integral part of his teaching on true prophecy and the best regime ruled by divine law.