152 CHAPTER FIVE
those who speak incoherently in their sleep.” Indeed, an important char-
acteristic of “ravings” for Maimonides is their incoherence and lack of
connection with realia. But Maimonides does not use this word to desig-
nate just any superstitious saying; he does not usually employ it when
criticizing the nonscientifi c homilies of simple- mindeddarshanim, for in-
stance.^124 He often adds to the term “ravings” the epithet “lengthy” (tawil),
but verbosity by itself does not constitute “ravings.” In Maimonides’
work, the scathing dismissal as “ravings” comes close to being a techni-
cal term reserved for superstitious, nonscientifi c, or pseudo- scientifi c dis-
course that presumes to offer a coherent system. Whenever he employs
this word in his discussion of a theory or a person, it should serve as a
pointer. Its use indicates that Maimonides regards the theory under dis-
cussion as related in some way to the esoteric non- Aristotelian philoso-
phies of his times, and in par ticular to their irrational, mythical discourse
and to the sciences of the occult. By describing them as “ravings” he in-
tends to underline their false pretense to be scientifi c knowledge. Accord-
ing to him, a true science must be based on the evidence of the real
world.^125 A system that ignores this evidence, whether by rejecting it
completely (as in the case of those who refuse to use medicine) or by ex-
aggerating the human ability to understand and control it (as in the
claims of the astrologers) is superstition rather than science, a delusion
rather than a wakeful enterprise.
(^124) See chap. 2, above.
(^125) See his quotation of Themistius in Guide 1:71 (Dalala, 123:29– 30; Pines, 179): “That
which exists does not conform to the various opinions, but rather the correct opinions
conform to that which exists.”