La naissance de l'esprit laïque au déclin du moyen age: IV. Guillaume d'Ockham: Defense de l'Empire; V. Guillaume d'Ockham: Critique des structures ecclésiales (review)

274 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY Jews .... A Jew may make use of philosophy and Maimonides makes the most ample use of it; but as a Jew he gives his assent where as a philosopher he would suspend his assent." Professor Pines clearly concurs in this. Pines' introduction is far more than a mere catalogue of the sources of some of Maimonides ' ideas. He offers us an acute analysis of the way in which Maimonides makes use of those sources for his own specific purposes. Pines shows convincingly that Maimonides was never a slavish follower of his predecessors nor a mere collector of philosophic opinions and arguments . He was a highly original thinker who learned much from his predecessors and contemporaries and then turned their words and ideas to the service of his own goals. What were those purposes as Pines outlines them and Strauss hints at them? Maimonides sought to pursue philosophic inquiry in complete freedom, while at the same time preserving society from the destructive dangers of philosophy. In Jewish law he saw the ideal instrument for achieving his double goal. Jewish law provided for the best kind of social order, in Maimonides' opinion, while leaving the pursuit of philosophy open to those who qualificd. As legislator or interpreter of Jewish law Maimonides was rigorously orthodox; but as philosopher he rejected some of the very doctrines which he affirmed in his legal decisions. He believed that religious tradition is essential to provide for the masses the best life of which they are capable. It also provides for the philosopher conditions under which he can do his work freely. Therefore, the prudent philosopher will do his best to preserve those conditions both for himself and for society. Both Pines and Strauss have this understanding of Maimonldes--a view which would be rejected by those who consider Maimonides one of the pillars of Jewish orthodoxy. Since the deliberate ambiguities of the Guide leave room for different and even contradictory interpretations , we must expect that Maimonides will be represented as everything from a fully conventional orthodox Jew, to a crypto-heretic, to an outright denier of the faith. To decide among these possibilities is beyond the limits of the present essay. Pines closes his introduction with this explanation of the social desirability of Maimonides' scheme. "Qua philosopher he had the possibility to consider Judaism from the outside. From this vantage point he could discover the justification that, if one takes into account human nature and condition, can be adduced for accepting the obligations of a strict member of the Jewish community and could apprehend and try to eliminate or mitigate the dangers inherent in philosophic truth and trace the task of the philosophers-statesmen, one of whom he was." Strauss summarizes the philosophic advantages this way: "The official recognition of philosophy in the Christian world made philosophy subject to ecclesiastical supervision. The precarious position of philosophy in the Islamic-Jewish world guaranteed its private character and therewith its inner freedom from supervision." ' This work by Pines and Strauss must be recognized as one of the most important contributions to the study of Maimonides in the present century. The translation is of a quality unequalled in any modern language. The introductions are controversial, but they are also stimulating and provocative. Every serious reader will be instructed by Professors Pines and Strauss. Some will follow their lead; others will be driven to refute them; and all will profit from the experience. M~vi~ Fox Ohio State University "Ibid., p. 21. La naissance de l'esprit la~que au d6clin d~ rnoyen age: IV. Guillaume d'Ockham: De]ense de l'Empire; V. Guillaume d'Ockham: Critique des slruclures eccl6siales. Par Georges de Lagarde. (Louvain, l~,ditions E. Nauwelaerts; Paris, Beatrice-Nanwelaerts, 1962--63. Vol. IV, xi-269 pp., FB 260.-; Vol. V, xii-348 pp., FB 330.-.) These two books are devoted to the political and ecclesiastical views of William Ockham (d. 1349), an English Franciscan, who had studied and taught at Oxford. In 1324 he was ac- BOOK REVIEWS 275 cused of heresy and cited to the papal court of Pope John XXII at Avignon. The trial was inconclusive . But during his stay there...