Ariel Milewicz
Unit 3
On the Attainment of Human Excellence
In “The Eight Chapters”, Maimonides emphasizes the importance of the soul, and the concept that the soul is equally as susceptible to illness as the physical body. He suggests “A soul that produces bad and dishonorable actions or thoughts is sick and needs healing” (Maimonides, 361). His suggested of therapy for the soul is Pirke Avot. Maimonides later suggests the theory of the “golden mean” (Maimonides, 361) – a concept that looks to identify the balance between two extremes – exaggeration and deficiency (Maimonides, 368) – in the attempt to create a healthy soul. Later, he suggests the idea that a soul cannot be broken down into parts in the standard sense. He puts forth the idea that “parts” that comprise the soul are factions which refer to the activities of the soul. He emphasizes five faculties to the soul: nutritive, sensitive, imaginative, appetitive, and rational. However, Maimonides leaves one distinct question: does each activity of the soul account for equal factions of the soul or is there an unequal distribution of weight amongst them?
Similarly, in chapters two and three of Maimonides: Life and Thought, the description of the soul is heavily emphasized. The soul is characterized by moral traits; “dispositions that imbedded in the soul that manipulate the limbs to perform certain activities without prior” (Halbertal, Chapter Two). The soul is essentially what control the physical body, and those activities which comprise the soul are the most influential. The natural tendency of an action becomes natural through habituation and repetition of the action – it is not something which is innate. Does this learned behavior suggest that the soul itself is something that can be taught to behave in a particular manner, and that is what in turn controls the actions of the physical body?
Sokolow argues a similar point in “Habit and Reason in Jewish and Muslim Educational Theory”: “Actions should be habitual, and defective actions can be remedied through the performance of antagonistic actions (just as physical maladies can be cured through antagonistic remedies) thereby restoring a proper balance to the soul” (Sokolow, 24). The ease to which physical ailments are remedied is mirrored in the ease to which ailments of the soul can be remedied. This is an important concept that that further asks the question: is there a general remedy to ailments of the soul? Or is the soul more complex than the physical body, as one might assume, suggesting even more specific remedies than expected for the physical body?
In “The Adaptation of Philosophic Ethics to a Religious Community: Maimonides’ Eight Chapters”, the healing of the soul, as well as finding the middle ground for balance of the soul revolves around the concept of wisdom as a means of attaining balance: “The “wisdom” referred to in this instance is not theoretical in nature. But conduct that brings about an equilibrium within the soul manifests a form of wisdom that “restores” the soul.” It is suggested that knowledge gained has a restorative impact on the soul, allowing an individual to inch closer to the equilibrium that every person is supposed to strive to achieve.
“The Eight Chapters”, chapters two and three of Maimonides: Life and Thought, “The Adaptation of Philosophic Ethics to a Religious Community: Maimonides’ Eight Chapters”, and “Habit and Reason in Jewish and Muslim Educational Theory” all share the same emphasis on the importance of a healthy soul, in addition to or even above that of a healthy body. They do, however, vary somewhat in the distinction of what truly comprises a soul, as well as what makes a soul healthy or unhealthy.