Knowledge and Action, Reason and Habit, in Jewish and Muslim Philosophies of Education

Abstract

Jewish and Muslim philosophers, alike, regarded the formation of proper habits to be the key to effective education. They also considered rational acceptance of religious obligation to be mandatory for successful observance. This essay examines the relationship between these two dimensions of religious education: knowledge and reason on the one hand, and habit and action on the other hand, in the philosophical and pedagogical works of Abu Hāmid al-Ghazāli (1058–1111,) Moses Maimonides (1135–1204), and the anonymous Sefer Ha-Hinnukh (13th century).