Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Maimonides' Cure of Souls: Medieval Precursor of Psychoanalysis

Maimonides' Cure of Souls: Medieval Precursor of Psychoanalysis

Bakan, David
Merkur, Dan
Weiss, David S.

Paperback

JudaismGeneral Psychology

ISBN10: 1438427468
ISBN13: 9781438427461
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: Jul 2 2010
Pages: 201
Weight: 0.65
Height: 0.50 Width: 5.90 Depth: 8.90
Language: English

Explores the unacknowledged psychological element in Maimonides' work, one which prefigures the latter insights of Freud.

Is Moses Maimonides an unacknowledged ancestor of the psychoanalytic movement? In this book, David Bakan, Dan Merkur, and David S. Weiss look at the great medieval Jewish philosopher's prescription for the cure of souls and its psychological significance. In the Guide of the Perplexed, Maimonides, who was also a physician, describes the soul's illness: when sinners rationalize evil as good, they limit their capacities to reason, imagine, and behave well, which also produces physical symptoms. The cure depends on repentance in love and fear of God that is attained through philosophical knowledge, the interpretation of dreams and visions, and mystical contemplation. The authors look at the Aristotelian background of Maimonides' psychology, Maimonidean mysticism, his beliefs about prophecy and sexuality, and what is known of Maimonides' client population. A final chapter discusses Maimonides and Freud, noting that many distinctive features of the cure of souls are shared by Freud's original formulation of psychoanalysis. Indeed, the many points of convergence suggest Freud's direct or indirect contact with Maimonides' legacy.

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