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    Carmelics

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
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    42
    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Medieval Jewish and Islamic philosophers employed esotericism for political reasons, not merely gnostic ones.

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
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    • 1.Maimonides explicitly states in the Guide that esoteric writing protects divine truths from misunderstanding, not philosophers from persecution.
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    • 2.The 'seven causes of contradiction' Maimonides identifies are epistemological and pedagogical, not politically motivated concealment strategies.
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    • 3.If esotericism were primarily political, it would disappear when political danger subsided, but Maimonides recommends it even for private written instruction.
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    Reason for 2 of 2
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    • 1.Al-Farabi's distinction between demonstrative and rhetorical discourse maps onto Platonic epistemological hierarchy, not onto Islamic political vulnerability.
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    • 2.The Neoplatonic tradition of reserve around esoteric knowledge predates Islamic and Jewish contexts and carries no inherently political motivation.
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    • 3.Attributing political motivation to esotericism conflates the sociological conditions of medieval philosophy with the philosophical justifications offered by the thinkers themselves.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
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    • 1.Revelation in Judaism and Islam deals fundamentally with law and the correct social order.
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    • 2.Interpreting law is inherently a political act.
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    • 3.Interpreting law is further from philosophy than interpreting dogma, placing philosophy on the periphery of Islamic and Jewish society.
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