| As an integrator in the history of medieval Jewish philosophy,Maimonides occupies an important position in the history of Jewish philosophy.This paper focuses on the thoughts of good and evil and the ethics of the Middle way.According to Maimonides,God is the highest good in general and everything created by God is also good.However,in real life,people tend to measure the world around them on an individual scale,thinking that the whole universe exists for people.Therefore,when things are out of people’s expectations,people will regard them as evil.If people form a holistic view of the universe and realize that they are only a drop in the vast universe,people will master the truth and understand that there are no so-called celestial bodies,stars,elements,minerals,animals and plants.Evil exists only in humans.Inspired by Aristotle’s rationalism,Maimonides further pointed out that evil is the absence of things and the absence of good.Even so,we cannot make a clear definition of "good" of Maimonides,because that Maimonides did not give a clear conclusion.In different contexts,"good" has different meanings.In Maimonides’ works,"good" mainly includes the following concepts:The first mean of "good" is "life",namely "living".In this context,Maimonides equates"good" with "life",that is,"living";therefore,"evil" is "dead".However,this does not define "good" in a physiological "living" or "death" state,it is defined by human morality.The second mean of "good" is that the wisdom acquired after Adam’s crime.Maimonides believed that Adam had the highest perfection from the very beginning.This perfect ability was able to distinguish between true and false.This was the highest perfection of mankind;but Adam violated the will of God and was thus deprived of the difference.The third mean of "good" is what God has created.Maimonides divided the existences which below God into three categories:separation from material,combination with material but avoidance of depravity,combination with material and constant experience of life and depravity.The world which contains these three types of existence is perfect and good.The fourth mean of "good" is the action of acquiring virtue and ultimate purpose.Besides,"good" is an expression applied by us to what conforms to our purpose.In the last chapter of "The Guide for the Perplexed’,Maimonides elaborates on the perfection of human beings.He pointed out that the philosophers of the ancient and modern times described the four presumptive "human perfection".The first is the perfection of the lowest level,that is,the perfection of people in terms of property.The second kind of perfection includes people’s improvement in physique.The third kind of perfection is the moral perfection of human beings.This perfection is closer to one’s own perfection.The fourth perfection is the real perfection of human beings,which is the possession of the supreme intellectual ability.The fourth kind of perfection is the rational perfection of this article.The perfection of reason is immortal.It is the ultimate goal that people should pursue.Maimonides had suggested that people can achieve "good".However,this "good" is not the "perfection of reason" but "the perfection of morality".It is on the basis of this meaning that Maimonides proposes a way to achieve the good,namely "the Middle way". |
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