132 CHAPTER FIVE
Despite the shortcomings of the Egyptian system, Maimonides favors the
collaborative method, according to which a physician does not pre-
sume to have absolute knowledge, and does not act without consulting
colleagues. In this context, Maimonides’ concluding advice to his patient
is revealing: “I have told you all this merely as a warning to beware of
the physicians and not to surrender yourself hastily to whomever you
fi nd. Rather, be satisfi ed with a good regimen.... For the errors of the
physicians are much more frequent than their correct [prescriptions].”^36
He buttresses this warning by a quotation from Aristotle’s De sensu et
sensato: “Most people die as a result of medical treatment.” And adds: “I
think that Aristotle should be trusted in this assessment.”^37
Lest these harsh words sound like a devastating criticism of the profes-
sional level of his fellow physicians, Maimonides hastens to add that this
description is intrinsically true for medicine in general; it is therefore valid
for all physicians, however conscientious and skilled they may be, and Mai-
monides himself is no exception to the rule:
Having heard my words, do not assume that I am the one into whose
hands you should deliver your soul and body for treatment. May
God be my witness that I know for certain about myself that I, too,
am among those who are defi cient in this art, [who] stand in awe of
it, and who fi nd it diffi cult to achieve its goal.... Again, may God be
my witness that I do not state this out of modesty, nor in the cus-
tomary manner of the virtuous,^38 who say about themselves that their
knowledge is defi cient even when it is perfect and that their deeds
fall short even when they are very diligent. But I state the truth of the
matter as it is.^39For Maimonides, the physician is inherently ignorant of his profession,
feeling his way in the dark. This, says Maimonides, is a simple fact, and
recognizing it does not merit to be praised as virtuous modesty. The phy-
sician’s rule of thumb should be that the less he interferes, the safer it is
for the patient. The prowess of a wise, skilled, and daring physician can
often yield disastrous results. Such in dependent prowess refl ects, there-
fore, rather than laudable daring, presumptuous foolhardiness.
As we have seen above, Ibn al- Qifti’s statement that Maimonides lacked
confi dence in his practice had a restricted meaning. It marked a stage in
his studies, which, being curtailed by the Almohad persecution, left him
(^36) Bos,Maimonides on Asthma, 91.
(^37) Ibid.
(^38) Fudala. Bos translates: “erudite.” See D. H. Frank, “Humility as a Virtue: A Maimonid-
ean Critique of Aristotle’s Ethics,” in E. L. Ormsby, ed., Moses Maimonides and His Time
(Washington, D.C., 1989), 89– 99.
(^39) Bos,Maimonides on Asthma, 95.