Fall/Winter Timetable
RLG3622H1S L0101
Undergraduate Course Code: POL421H1S L0101
Maimonides and His Modern Interpreters
Themes
The course offers an introduction to the seminal work of Jewish philosophy, The Guide of the Perplexed, by Moses Maimonides. We will delve into some of the basic themes of Jewish philosophical theology and religion as they are treated by Maimonides. Through close textual study of the Guide, a broad range of such topics might be considered, such as: the question of biblical interpretation and its proper method; dialectical theology and the status of imagination; what is prophecy and revelation?; providence; theodicy and the problem of evil; divine law versus human law; what is the perfect state or political order, and how is it best achieved?; the search for wisdom and the character of human perfection. Readings in some of the leading modern interpreters of Maimonides and the Guide (such as Julius Guttmann, Leo Strauss, and Shlomo Pines) will also be examined.
Texts
The main text will be: Moses Maimonides, The Guide of the Perplexed, trans. Shlomo Pines (University of Chicago Press); Leo Strauss, Persecution and the Art of Writing.
Format and Requirements
Among the class assignments will be: two class presentations; two papers; class participation.
November 14, 2023
Congratulations to Madalyn Hay, a recipient of a 2023-2024 Connaught PhDs for Public Impact Fellowship. Madalyn, one of our doctoral students, holds a BAH in Contemporary Studies and Classics from the...
August 24, 2023
Congratulations to alumna Meaghan Williams, a recipient of the 2022-23 Governor General’s Gold Medal for Academic Excellence, the highest academic honour available to graduate students in Canada. Awarded annually by the Office of the...
June 14, 2021
Great news from the Canadian Political Science Association, which held its annual awards ceremony (online) over the weekend of June 12 & 13: Professor Stefan Rencken’s book "Private Governance and Public...
April 22, 2021
Congratulations to two political science alumni now teaching at U of T who have both won Superior Teaching Awards! Igor Shoikhedbrod and Khalid Ahmed will be celebrated on May 5th at...
August 6, 2020
Q&A with 2020 Vanier Scholar Yojana Miraya Oscco Congratulations to PhD student Yojana Miraya Oscco who has won a prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (SSHRC). Launched in 2008, the program enables...
April 30, 2020
Congratulations to our graduate student Kevin Edmonds who has won New College's June Larkin Award for Pedagogical Development. A PhD candidate specializing in Caribbean political economy, histories of alternative/illicit development, foreign intervention and...