Maimonides and Aquinas: A Medieval Misunderstanding?

Abstract

Thomas Aquinas's treatment of Moses Maimonides's via negativa has been frequently called into question. In particular, some contemporary Maimonideans have argued that Aquinas grossly misunderstands Maimonides. Other scholars argue that Maimonides's defense of his own position provides insuperable challenges to alternative ways of naming God, despite the problems Aquinas raised with the via negativa. In this article, the author attends to Aquinas's two objections to Maimonides in Summa theologiae I 'superscript a'.13.2 in order to see if these objections are valid and further, to see if Aquinas mischaracterizes Maimonides in this passage, as some have alleged. Before addressing the question of whether or not Aquinas understood Maimonides, the author offers also a brief introduction to the historical debate over religious language in the Middle Ages.