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Telos: To Be a Servant of God

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Abstract

As with both Maimonides and Aristotle, I will begin my description of moral and intellectual development with the goal for doing so, and I will adopt Maimonides’ goal that a person should aspire to serve God with love. Yet, Maimonides’ use of the term eved [Hashem (servant of God)] to describe a person who has achieved his telos frequently has negative connotations in contemporary society, which can affect its positive import when used to denote a theonomous relationship. I will therefore provide a functional description of being a “servant of God,” based on the Talmudic understanding of a verse in Habakuk—“the righteous shall live by his faith (emunah).”

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Bibliography

  • Dewey, John. 2008. Human Nature and Conduct. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc.

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  • James, William, and Bruce Kuklick. 1992. Writings, 1878–1899. New York: Library of America.

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Bedzow, I. (2017). Telos: To Be a Servant of God. In: Maimonides for Moderns. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44573-1_3

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