In and Around Maimonides: Original Essays by Y. Tzvi Langermann
In and Around Maimonides presents seven highly focused studies on Moses Maimonides and those around him. “In Maimonides” refers to close readings of passages from Maimonides’ writings; “around Maimonides” refers to his own family (his father R. Maimon and his son R. Abraham) with whom Maimonides’ views are in conversation; an unnamed scholar mocked by Maimonides; Judah Halevi, a major figure in Andalusian Judaeo-Arabic culture with whom Maimonides is often contrasted; and Maimonides’ Yemeni commentators, who wrote marginalia, sometimes long and detailed, in the margins of manuscripts, around the text of the Guide. These studies offer new and important insights into the thought of Maimonides on a variety of issues, such as the nature and purpose of prophecy or the capacity of humans to better themselves morally, as well as his reception and interpretation in the Arabic speaking world.
