maieutic See SOCRATES. Maimon, Salomon (1753–1800), Lithuanianborn German Jewish philosopher who became the friend and protégé of Moses Mendelssohn and was an acute early critic and follower of Kant. His most important works were the Versuch über die Transzendentalphilosophie. Mit einem Anhang über die symbolische Erkenntnis (‘Essay on Transcendental Philosophy. With an Appendix on Symbolic Cognition,’ 1790), the Philosophisches Wörterbuch (‘Philosophical Dictionary,’ 1791) and the Versuch einer neuen Logik oder Theorie des Denkens (‘Attempt at a New Logic or Theory of Thought,’ 1794). Maimon argued against the ‘thing-in-itself’ as it was conceived by Karl Leonhard Reinhold and Gottlieb Ernst Schulze. For Maimon, the thing-in-itself was merely a limiting concept, not a real object ‘behind’ the phenomena. While he thought that Kant’s system was sufficient as a refutation of rationalism or ‘dogmatism,’ he did not think that it had – or could – successfully dispose of skepticism. Indeed, he advanced what can be called a skeptical interpretation of Kant. On the other hand, he also argued against Kant’s sharp distinction between sensibility and understanding and for the necessity of assuming the idea of an ‘infinite mind.’ In this way, he prepared the way for Fichte and Hegel. However, in many ways his own theory is more similar to that of the neo- Kantian Hermann Cohen. See also JEWISH PHI- LOSOPHY , NEO -KANTIANIS. M.K.