145MANICHAEAISMattempt to synthesize Jewish monotheism
and Aristotelian metaphysics.
Maimonides stresses the importance
of law and proper conduct of life. His
Mishneh Torah was to be an all-
encompassing commentary to supple-
ment the Torah. In it, he attempts to
show that there is nothing in the Torah
that does not serve a rational purpose.
Maimonides took the point of the Jewish
law to be the betterment of the body and
of the soul. Every action prescribed in
the Torah is therefore beneficial for
both the body and for the soul. His
principal works are: Treatise on the Art
of Logic, Commentary on the Mishnah
(1168), The Guide of the Perplexed
(c. 1190), Treatise on Resurrection (1191),
and Letter on Astrology (1195). See also
APOPHATIC THEOLOGY.
MALCOLM, NORMAN (1911–1990).
Inspired by Wittgenstein, Malcolm
defended the intelligibility of religious
belief notwithstanding serious doubts
about theism. He offered a forceful defense
of a version of the ontological argument.
Malcolm also famously defended the view
that dreaming does not actually involve
dream experiences. His chief works
include Knowledge and Certainty (1963),
Dreaming (1959), and Memory and Mind
(1977).
MALEBRANCHE, NICOLAS (1638–
1715). A French Cartesian philosopher
who understood God to be involved in
all causal relations. What accounts for
your reading this book is not just your
intentions, anatomy, and so on, but also
God making it such that these factors
have causal agency. This view is some-
times called occasionalism, for causal
relations between objects in this world
consist of occasions for divine agency.
Malebranche’s chief works include The
Search after Truth (2 vols. 1674, 1675),
Treatise on Nature and Grace (1680), and
Dialogues on Metaphysics and Religion
(1688).MANICHAEAISM (a.k.a. Manichaen-
ism). An ancient Gnostic religion
founded by Mani (c. 210–276 CE) in
Babylon, which was then part of the
Persian Empire. Manichaeism was a dual-
istic religion, positing the existence of
two great cosmic forces, one good and
one evil. These forces play out their cos-
mic battle in human beings, pitting the
soul (composed of light) against the body
(composed of dark earth). In order to
overcome the evil, material world, one
must seek the good, spiritual world.
Like other Gnostic religions, salvation
comes through knowledge, while igno-
rance results in sin. Manichaeism thrived
between the third and seventh centuries
CE, spreading throughout the Roman
Empire and as far east as China. Although
early Christians were highly critical of
Manichaeism and deemed it a heresy, it