Jewish philosopher, physician and jurist, born in Spain. He codified Jewish
law in Mishneh Torah (1180).
a note from a visitor to this site:
I believe Maimonides argued that the consumption of meat is necessary for health,
ordained by G-d, and made acceptable by following the laws of shechita, or ritual
slaughter. While Maimonides was definitely concerned about the unnecessary suffering
of animals the notion that he generally advocated or practiced vegetarainism
is probably incorrect.
Extracts from 'Guide for the Perplexed' as quoted in The Extended Circle by
Jon Wynne-Tyson:
It should not be believed that all beings exist for the sake of the existence
of man. On the contrary, all the other beings too have been intended for their
own sakes and not for the sake of anything else.
[Regarding animals and their offspring], there is no difference between the
pain of humans and the pain of other living beings, since the love and tenderness
of the mother for the young are not produced by reasoning, but by feeling, and
this faculty exists not only in humans but in most living beings.