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20696 | We can approach knowledge of God by negative attributes [Maimonides] |
Full Idea: You will come nearer to the knowledge and comprehension of God by the negative attributes. | |
From: Moses Maimonides (The Guide of the Perplexed [1190], p.86), quoted by Brian Davies - Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion 2 'Negation' | |
A reaction: Illustrated by grasping what a ship is by eliminating other categories it might belong to. The assumption is that you have a known and finite list - something like Aristotle's categories. Maimonides fears we know too little for positive attributes. |