| Summary: | The practical intellect is a faculty of the rational soul which serves an important function in Aristotelian philosophy. It is involved in self-governance as well as in the governance of others. Maimonides mentions the practical functions of the rational faculty in several of his writings, but not once does he refer explicitly to the practical intellect or to the practical rational faculty. This omission, however, does not indicate a significant departure from Aristotelian thought. Maimonides did in fact regard ethics and politics, as well as divination, as being essentially rooted in the deliberative activity of the practical rational faculty. Rather, the omission of the practical intellect serves to underline Maimonides' view that the perfection of the intellect lies in the perfection of the theoretical intellect, whereby man attains his final perfection and immortality. Ethics, politics, and divination involve the interplay of the practical rational faculty and the imaginative faculty. Perfect ethical and political systems, together with prophetic divination, involve also the theoretical rational faculty. In light of this point, Maimonides' approach to non-prophetic legislations, moral conventions, and soothsaying, in contrast to Mosaic legislation, rational ethics and prophetic divination, is explored. The relation between Maimonides and Alfarabi on these issues is also discussed.
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