Re: sources that rambam became a kabbalist in later life

On Fri, 26 May 2006 15:28:57 +0000 (UTC), q_q_anonymous@xxxxxxxxxxx
<q_q_anonymous@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

The greeks didn't know that the earth revolves around the sun. So, it
looked a bit like the rambam had too much faith in their assumptions.

From the standpoint of calculating times, it make no difference whatsoever
whether one uses the Sun or the Earth as the origin of the coordinate system.
For Earth-based observers, using Earth as the origin makes many things easier
and more intuitive as well.

Of course, neither is "really" the origin of any coordinate system, as it is
strictly a matter of convenience which one chooses as a frame-of-reference.
It would be just as correct to posit the Moon as the center, though it would
make calculations for Earth-based observers hellishly difficult.

But the rambam was a bit terse in the mishneh torah in this
philosphical aspect. He says their calculations are provable.

And they are; the system works quite well. No, it's not "true" in the sense
of "absolute truth", but it is excellent from a practical perspective. Our
calendar is still very accurate (despite it drifting slowly out of sync with
the seasons).

He didn't actually have Too Much faith in greek philosophy/astronomy. He did
understand its limitations.

Right. And he would have embraced modern scientific understanding just as he
did the then-current Greek understanding, as part of Torah (ma`aseh bereshith)
is knowing how the universe is constructed and operates - which he
understands as the sciences. HOWEVER, from a practical standpoint (which is
what the Yad is all about) it makes NO difference at all that the underlying
theories of the Greeks were incorrect. The practical results are what count
(for the calculation of the times, that is).
.

Loading