Q&A: The Purpose of Man According to Maimonides
The Purpose of Man According to Maimonides
Question
Maimonides, in Guide of the Perplexed, Part I, chapter 54, says that the purpose of man in this world is to become like God, meaning like His actions: just as He is compassionate and gracious, so you too, etc.
And in the introduction to tractate Avot (not 100% sure that’s where), he said that the purpose of man is the attainment of intelligibles and truth.
How can there be more than one purpose?
And another question: what is knowledge of God that Maimonides is talking about? (It seems from his words that this too is the purpose.)
Answer
Who says it’s not the same thing? Becoming like Him means engaging in intelligibles and attaining them. That also resolves the second question (though it isn’t really a question at all. Why can’t there be two purposes?)
I assume that knowledge of God is also what I explained above. Though I’m not an expert in Maimonides’ approach, and I don’t deal so much with this literature (Jewish thought).
Becoming like Him is through actions, not through attainments and intellectual understanding.
What matters in the end is actions. If there are no actions, all the knowledge is worth less than a garlic peel.