Moses Maimonides, "The Parable of the Palace" in The Guide for the Perplexed, trans. by Samuel Pines (Chicago, 1963), Book III:51: "The Parable of the Palace."

1) How might the use which Maimonides (1135-1204) made of the city as a metaphor in his parable reflect people's attitudes towards the city at the time?

2) Maimonides described the people in his parable who were "outside of the city" as having "no doctrinal belief" and, thus, less than human. What might this description reflect of the prejudices prevalent at the time? What did it evidently take in the opinion of Maimonides and his circle to be considered a "civilized" human being? Is Maimonides what you would call a "racist"?

3) Why did Maimonides consider those who were "within the city" but had opinions which differed from traditional religious teachings so dangerous? Can one champion use of the intellect and simultaneously express intolerance for differing views? If so, under what circumstances?

4) According to Maimonides, which comes first: intellectual understanding of God or worship and love of God?

5) How might urbanization have enhanced Jewish religious practice? How might it have dampened or hindered it?

For ambitious students:

6) In Book II, Chapter 40 Maimonides tries to establish criteria by which to evaluate different kinds of law systems. At a minimum, however, he believes that a law system must impose order on the competing individuals who live together in the city. How does Maimonides' construct fit with your understanding of what a city is?