owment. Through
his "intellect," he is directly connected with the "Active Intellect,"
and thus secures the grace of God, who embraces the infinite. Such views
naturally lead to a conception of life in consonance with the purest
ideals of morality, and they are the goal to which the "Guide" leads the
perplexed. He teaches that the acquiring of high intellectual power, and
the "possession of such notions as lead to true metaphysical opinions"
about God, are "man's final object," and they constitute true human
perfection. This it is that "gives him immortality," and confers upon
him the dignity of manhood.

The highest degree of perfection, according to Maimonides, is reached by
him who devotes all his thoughts and actions to perfecting himself in
divine matters, and this highest degree he calls prophecy. He is
probably the first philosopher to offer so rationalistic an explanation,
and, on that account, it merits our attention. What had previously been
regarded as supernatural inspiration, the "Guide" reduces to a
psychological theory. "Prophecy," he says, "is, in truth and reality, an
emanation sent forth by the Divine Being through the medium of the
Active Intellect, in the first instance to man's rational faculty, and
then to his imaginative faculty; it is the highest degree ... of
perfection man can attain; it consists in the most perfect development
of the imaginative faculty." Maimonides distinguishes eleven degrees of
inspiration, and three essential conditions of prophecy: 1. Perfection
of the natural constitution of the imaginative faculty, 2. mental
perfection, which may partially be acquired by training, and 3. moral
perfection. Moses arrived at the highest degree of prophecy, because he
understood the knowledge communicated to him without the medium of the
imaginative faculty. This spiritual height having been scaled, the
"Guide" needs but to take a step to reach revelation, in his estimation
also an intellectual process: man's intellect rises to the Supreme
Being.

In the third part of his work, Maimonides endeavors to reconcile the
conclusions of philosophy with biblical laws and Talmudical traditions.
His method is both original and valuable; indeed, this deserves to be
considered the most important part of his work. Detailed exposition of
his reasoning may prove irksome; we shall, therefore, consider it as
briefly as possible.

Maimonides laid down one rule of interpretation which, almost without
exce