Является ли человек венцом творения?
Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven? http://bible.cc/job/35-11.htm
If the Torah had not been given, we could have learned modesty from the cat, honesty from the ant, chastity from the dove, and good manners from the rooster. Read more... )
http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/gfp/gfp149.htm
Rambam does inquire and sees a paradox, but he does not leave it as an open problem; rather he resolves it and concludes:
...I consider therefore the following opinion as most correct according to the teaching of the Bible, and best in accordance with the results of philosophy; namely, that the Universe does not exist for man's sake, but that each being exists for its own sake, and not because of some other thing. Thus we believe in the Creation, and yet need not inquire what purpose is served by each species of the existing things, because we assume that G-d created all parts of the Universe by His will; some for their own sake, and some for the sake of other beings, that include their own purpose in themselves... We meet also with this view in Scripture "The Lord hath made everything for its purpose (Prov. xvi. 4)... David likewise says expressly "The Lord is good to all; and his tender mercies are over all his works"
...For no part of the creation is described as being in existence for the sake of another part, but each part is declared to be the product of God's will, and to satisfy by its existence the intention [of the Creator]. This is expressed by the phrase, "And God saw that it was good" (Gen. i. 4, etc.).
So Maimonides is not suggesting that the world was been created for the man's sake; the world exists for its own sake. We are not the "crown of the Creation."
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