144

M

MACKIE, JOHN (1917–1981). An
Australian born, Oxford philosopher in
the Humean tradition who argued sys-
tematically for atheism and a noncogni-
tive view of ethical values. One of his
arguments against ethics is that objective
ethical properties would be “queer” given
our understanding of the natural world.
His chief debating partner in print was
Richard Swinburne, an advocate of theis-
tic natural theology. Mackie’s chief works
include The Cement of the Universe (1974,
1980), The Miracle of Theism (1982), “Evil
and Omnipotence,” Mind, 64 (1955),
“A refutation of Morals,” Australasian
Journal of Philosophy and Psychology, 24
(1946), and Ethics: Inventing Right and
Wrong (1977).

MAGIC. Christian Old and New Testa-
ment sources associate magic with sor-
cery and devilish arts, but the Renaissance
promoted a form of white magic involv-
ing alchemy and the development of
virtue through enchantment. See also
WICCA.

MAGICK. See MAGIC.

MAIMONIDES (1135–1204). Also

known as Moses ben Maimon, Rabbi

Moses, and the Rambam (from the ini-

tials of “Rabbi Moses ben Maimon”).

Maimonides was the most important

Jewish philosopher of the Middle Ages

and one of the most important Jewish

thinkers of all time. He was born in

Córdoba, Spain, and spent much of his

life fleeing religious persecution. His

family fled to Fez in 1148, then to Egypt

in 1165. He was a court physician in Cairo

until his death. He wrote a number of

works in Hebrew and Arabic. His major

work, the Guide of the Perplexed, is an

important work of apophatic theology

and one of the most important philo-

sophical works of Judaism. In the Guide,

Maimonides attempted a rational recon-

ciliation of philosophy and revealed

religion. His Guide was of interest not just

to Jews but also to Christians and Muslims.

Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas

were both influenced by Maimonides’