Le problème du mal dans le <i>Guide des Perplexes</i> et son arrière-plan talmudique

José Costa

doi:10.3989/sefarad.010.010

Authors

José Costa Université de Paris II – Sorbonne nouvelle

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3989/sefarad.010.010

Keywords:

Maimonides, Moral Philosophy, Rabbinic Literature, mu ͑tazilism

Abstract

At first sight, the question of evil is regarded in the Guide for the Perplexed in a paradoxical manner. Thus, in Guide I, 2, Maimonides examines the notions of good and evil as subjective evaluations possessing neither the rigour not the exactness of the notions of true and false. However, the question of evil occupies an essential place in the Guide, as various modern authors have shown. This question is important to Maimonides because he is, in this respect, the heir of the rabbinic tradition and his conception of evil is largely based on an interaction with the Talmudic and Midrašic texts. Therefore, we would like to review thirty-nine rabbinic ‘quotes’ which appear in chapters 8 to 24 in the third part of the Guide and deal with the origin of evil, the meaning of suffering and the evil inclination. Maimonides reappropriates the midrašim that are susceptible of being in agreement with his rationalist positions and also quotes some rabbinic traditions that are too close to mu ͑tazilism, undoubtedly aware of the more profound resemblance that exists between the rabbinic and mu ͑tazilite doctrines of evil and retribution.

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