Daniel Rynhold
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- April 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199274864
- eISBN:
- 9780191602450
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019927486X.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Judaism is a religion that historically has emphasized the importance of a set of practical commandments, and in the history of Jewish philosophy various attempts have been made to rationalize or ...
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Judaism is a religion that historically has emphasized the importance of a set of practical commandments, and in the history of Jewish philosophy various attempts have been made to rationalize or justify these commandments. In this book, Daniel Rynhold attempts to formulate a general model for the justification of practices out of a critical analysis of approaches taken to the issue of ta’amei ha-mitzvot (the rationalization of the commandments) within Jewish philosophy.Bringing a modern analytical framework to bear on the methods of the medieval philosopher Moses Maimonides and the contemporary thinker Joseph Soloveitchik, Rynhold argues that despite being put forward as opposing approaches, their views on ta’amei ha-mitzvot share a central methodological presumption—the Priority of Theory (PoT). Rynhold’s critique of this method, based primarily on developing an argument from uncodifiability is followed by the development of his own original method of justifying practices that he terms the Priority of Practice (PoP). Rynhold’s innovative approach, based on an analysis of the concept of faith as presented in certain central strands of the Jewish tradition emphasizes the limits of propositional methods for justifying practices in general and the need for a more pragmatic line in which practices are justified practically rather than by reference to theories and principles. Whilst much work in Jewish philosophy is more historical than conceptual, Rynhold’s attempt to bring together Jewish and general philosophy yields a work that illustrates how Jewish philosophy can be of more than historical interest and make a genuine contribution to current philosophical debate.Less
Judaism is a religion that historically has emphasized the importance of a set of practical commandments, and in the history of Jewish philosophy various attempts have been made to rationalize or justify these commandments. In this book, Daniel Rynhold attempts to formulate a general model for the justification of practices out of a critical analysis of approaches taken to the issue of ta’amei ha-mitzvot (the rationalization of the commandments) within Jewish philosophy.
Bringing a modern analytical framework to bear on the methods of the medieval philosopher Moses Maimonides and the contemporary thinker Joseph Soloveitchik, Rynhold argues that despite being put forward as opposing approaches, their views on ta’amei ha-mitzvot share a central methodological presumption—the Priority of Theory (PoT). Rynhold’s critique of this method, based primarily on developing an argument from uncodifiability is followed by the development of his own original method of justifying practices that he terms the Priority of Practice (PoP). Rynhold’s innovative approach, based on an analysis of the concept of faith as presented in certain central strands of the Jewish tradition emphasizes the limits of propositional methods for justifying practices in general and the need for a more pragmatic line in which practices are justified practically rather than by reference to theories and principles. Whilst much work in Jewish philosophy is more historical than conceptual, Rynhold’s attempt to bring together Jewish and general philosophy yields a work that illustrates how Jewish philosophy can be of more than historical interest and make a genuine contribution to current philosophical debate.
Steven Kepnes
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195313819
- eISBN:
- 9780199785650
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195313819.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Jewish Liturgical Reasoning is an attempt to articulate the internal patterns of philosophical, ethical, and theological reasoning that are at work in Jewish synagogue liturgies. Jewish ...
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Jewish Liturgical Reasoning is an attempt to articulate the internal patterns of philosophical, ethical, and theological reasoning that are at work in Jewish synagogue liturgies. Jewish Liturgical Reasoning is also about the relationship between internal Jewish liturgical reasoning and the variety of “external” philosophical and theological forms of reasoning that have been developed in modern and postliberal Jewish philosophy. The book focuses, in its first chapters, on the liturgical reasoning of Moses Mendelssohn, Hermann Cohen, and Franz Rosenzweig. It then attempts to further develop the liturgical reasoning of these figures with methods of study from hermeneutics, semiotic theory, postliberal theology, anthropology, and performance theory. These newer theories are enlisted to help form a contemporary liturgical reasoning that can respond to such events as the Holocaust, the establishment of the State of Israel, and interfaith dialogue between Jews, Christians, and Muslims. The book argues that liturgical reasoning can reorient Jewish philosophy and provide it with new tools, new terms of discourse, and a new sensibility for the twenty‐first century.Less
Jewish Liturgical Reasoning is an attempt to articulate the internal patterns of philosophical, ethical, and theological reasoning that are at work in Jewish synagogue liturgies. Jewish Liturgical Reasoning is also about the relationship between internal Jewish liturgical reasoning and the variety of “external” philosophical and theological forms of reasoning that have been developed in modern and postliberal Jewish philosophy. The book focuses, in its first chapters, on the liturgical reasoning of Moses Mendelssohn, Hermann Cohen, and Franz Rosenzweig. It then attempts to further develop the liturgical reasoning of these figures with methods of study from hermeneutics, semiotic theory, postliberal theology, anthropology, and performance theory. These newer theories are enlisted to help form a contemporary liturgical reasoning that can respond to such events as the Holocaust, the establishment of the State of Israel, and interfaith dialogue between Jews, Christians, and Muslims. The book argues that liturgical reasoning can reorient Jewish philosophy and provide it with new tools, new terms of discourse, and a new sensibility for the twenty‐first century.
Daniel Rynhold
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- April 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199274864
- eISBN:
- 9780191602450
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019927486X.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Looks at some of the implications for Jewish philosophy in general of taking this PoP approach to the justification of practices. It is argued that Jewish philosophy has been presented as having a ...
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Looks at some of the implications for Jewish philosophy in general of taking this PoP approach to the justification of practices. It is argued that Jewish philosophy has been presented as having a critical function. In a Rortian manner, it is an anti-system building, lending its voice to the anti-theory lobby, at least in the practical sphere. Theory does not, however, become obsolete, but is rather undertaken as an interpretative enterprise, leading to the idea of Jewish philosophy as interpretation.Less
Looks at some of the implications for Jewish philosophy in general of taking this PoP approach to the justification of practices. It is argued that Jewish philosophy has been presented as having a critical function. In a Rortian manner, it is an anti-system building, lending its voice to the anti-theory lobby, at least in the practical sphere. Theory does not, however, become obsolete, but is rather undertaken as an interpretative enterprise, leading to the idea of Jewish philosophy as interpretation.
Robert Eisen
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199751471
- eISBN:
- 9780199894833
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199751471.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter explores medieval Jewish philosophy by focusing primarily on Maimonides. Maimonides implicitly develops a peaceful reading of Judaism by accentuating a universalism predicated on the ...
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This chapter explores medieval Jewish philosophy by focusing primarily on Maimonides. Maimonides implicitly develops a peaceful reading of Judaism by accentuating a universalism predicated on the notion that all human beings can achieve intellectual perfection. Moreover, Maimonides mitigates the violence of the Bible by insisting that the Canaanites and Amalekites had to be offered terms of peace before Israel waged war on them, a condition absent in the biblical text. Maimonides also depicts the messianic period as a time in which there will be peace among the nations. According to a second reading, Maimonides implicitly encourages violence. He still saw the Jewish people as being superior to other nations. He expressed hostility to Christianity and Islam. He endorsed violence against the Canaanites and Amalekites, despite the terms of peace offered to them. And while he characterizes the messianic era as peaceful, it is a peace that comes about through war.Less
This chapter explores medieval Jewish philosophy by focusing primarily on Maimonides. Maimonides implicitly develops a peaceful reading of Judaism by accentuating a universalism predicated on the notion that all human beings can achieve intellectual perfection. Moreover, Maimonides mitigates the violence of the Bible by insisting that the Canaanites and Amalekites had to be offered terms of peace before Israel waged war on them, a condition absent in the biblical text. Maimonides also depicts the messianic period as a time in which there will be peace among the nations. According to a second reading, Maimonides implicitly encourages violence. He still saw the Jewish people as being superior to other nations. He expressed hostility to Christianity and Islam. He endorsed violence against the Canaanites and Amalekites, despite the terms of peace offered to them. And while he characterizes the messianic era as peaceful, it is a peace that comes about through war.
Steven Nadler
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199247073
- eISBN:
- 9780191598074
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199247072.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This is a study of the reasons behind Spinoza's excommunication from the Portuguese–Jewish community of Amsterdam in 1656. The central question in the book is how and why did the issue of the ...
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This is a study of the reasons behind Spinoza's excommunication from the Portuguese–Jewish community of Amsterdam in 1656. The central question in the book is how and why did the issue of the immortality of the soul play a role in the decision to excommunicate Spinoza. The work begins with a discussion of the nature of cherem or banning within Judaism, and in the Amsterdam community, in particular, as well as of a number of possible explanations for Spinoza's ban. It then turns to the variety of traditions in Jewish religious and philosophical thought on the post‐mortem fate of the soul and the after life. This is followed by an examination of Spinoza's own views on the eternity of the mind in the Ethics and the role that the denial of personal immortality plays in his overall philosophical and political project. Part of the book's argument is that Spinoza's views were not only an outgrowth of his own metaphysical principles, but also a culmination of an intellectualist trend in medieval Jewish rationalism (especially Maimonides and Gersonides).Less
This is a study of the reasons behind Spinoza's excommunication from the Portuguese–Jewish community of Amsterdam in 1656. The central question in the book is how and why did the issue of the immortality of the soul play a role in the decision to excommunicate Spinoza. The work begins with a discussion of the nature of cherem or banning within Judaism, and in the Amsterdam community, in particular, as well as of a number of possible explanations for Spinoza's ban. It then turns to the variety of traditions in Jewish religious and philosophical thought on the post‐mortem fate of the soul and the after life. This is followed by an examination of Spinoza's own views on the eternity of the mind in the Ethics and the role that the denial of personal immortality plays in his overall philosophical and political project. Part of the book's argument is that Spinoza's views were not only an outgrowth of his own metaphysical principles, but also a culmination of an intellectualist trend in medieval Jewish rationalism (especially Maimonides and Gersonides).
Aaron W. Hughes
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199356812
- eISBN:
- 9780199358199
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199356812.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism, Philosophy of Religion
The term “Jewish philosophy” is, in many ways, a paradox. Is it theology or is it philosophy? Is it a philosophical way of understanding Judaism, or a Jewish way of understanding philosophy? Does it ...
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The term “Jewish philosophy” is, in many ways, a paradox. Is it theology or is it philosophy? Is it a philosophical way of understanding Judaism, or a Jewish way of understanding philosophy? Does it use universal methods to articulate Judaism’s particularity or does it justify Judaism’s particularity as a way to illumine the universal? The tension between “philosophy” and “Judaism,” between the “universal” and the “particular,” reverberates throughout the length and breadth of Jewish philosophical writing, from Saadya Gaon in the ninth century to Emmanuel Levinas in the twentieth. But rather than just assume, as most scholars of Jewish philosophy do, that the terms “philosophy” and “Judaism” can simply exist together without each ultimately transforming the other, Hughes explores the fallout that ensues from their cohabitation, adroitly examining the historical, cultural, intellectual, and religious filiations between Judaism and philosophy. Breaking with received opinion, this book seeks to challenge the exclusionary, essentialist, and even totalitarian nature that is inherent to the practice of what is problematically referred to as “Jewish philosophy.” Hughes begins with the premise that Jewish philosophy, as it is presently conceived, is impossible. He then begins the process of offering a sophisticated and constructive rethinking of the discipline that avoids the traditional extremes of universalism and particularism.Less
The term “Jewish philosophy” is, in many ways, a paradox. Is it theology or is it philosophy? Is it a philosophical way of understanding Judaism, or a Jewish way of understanding philosophy? Does it use universal methods to articulate Judaism’s particularity or does it justify Judaism’s particularity as a way to illumine the universal? The tension between “philosophy” and “Judaism,” between the “universal” and the “particular,” reverberates throughout the length and breadth of Jewish philosophical writing, from Saadya Gaon in the ninth century to Emmanuel Levinas in the twentieth. But rather than just assume, as most scholars of Jewish philosophy do, that the terms “philosophy” and “Judaism” can simply exist together without each ultimately transforming the other, Hughes explores the fallout that ensues from their cohabitation, adroitly examining the historical, cultural, intellectual, and religious filiations between Judaism and philosophy. Breaking with received opinion, this book seeks to challenge the exclusionary, essentialist, and even totalitarian nature that is inherent to the practice of what is problematically referred to as “Jewish philosophy.” Hughes begins with the premise that Jewish philosophy, as it is presently conceived, is impossible. He then begins the process of offering a sophisticated and constructive rethinking of the discipline that avoids the traditional extremes of universalism and particularism.
Willi Goetschel
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780823244966
- eISBN:
- 9780823252510
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823244966.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter analyzes the debate on the existence of Jewish philosophy. It suggests that the most important motives of its course of argumentation remain grounded in the specificity of the context ...
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This chapter analyzes the debate on the existence of Jewish philosophy. It suggests that the most important motives of its course of argumentation remain grounded in the specificity of the context from which they arise and contends that arguments for or against the existence of a category of Jewish philosophy can run to the intention of the debate. This chapter also argues that the discourse on what Jewish philosophy is highlights philosophy's own problematic stand when it comes to the task of examining its own premises.Less
This chapter analyzes the debate on the existence of Jewish philosophy. It suggests that the most important motives of its course of argumentation remain grounded in the specificity of the context from which they arise and contends that arguments for or against the existence of a category of Jewish philosophy can run to the intention of the debate. This chapter also argues that the discourse on what Jewish philosophy is highlights philosophy's own problematic stand when it comes to the task of examining its own premises.
Willi Goetschel
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780823244966
- eISBN:
- 9780823252510
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823244966.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this volume which is about the history of the development of Jewish philosophy and Jewish thought. It suggests that critical reflections on “Jewish ...
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This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this volume which is about the history of the development of Jewish philosophy and Jewish thought. It suggests that critical reflections on “Jewish philosophy” are as old as its modern use and that the widening of the scope from “philosophy” to “thought” made it possible to develop a more inclusive approach to Jewish tradition's significance for the emergence of modern philosophy. This volume argues against the presumption of Jewish philosophy as a separate and independent entity and category of philosophy and contends that it should be considered as representing a differential move that engages critically with philosophy, which it seeks to complicate, differentiate, and enrich.Less
This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this volume which is about the history of the development of Jewish philosophy and Jewish thought. It suggests that critical reflections on “Jewish philosophy” are as old as its modern use and that the widening of the scope from “philosophy” to “thought” made it possible to develop a more inclusive approach to Jewish tradition's significance for the emergence of modern philosophy. This volume argues against the presumption of Jewish philosophy as a separate and independent entity and category of philosophy and contends that it should be considered as representing a differential move that engages critically with philosophy, which it seeks to complicate, differentiate, and enrich.
Jon McGinnis
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195331479
- eISBN:
- 9780199868032
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331479.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Prior to Avicenna, philosophy in Arabic-speaking lands was identified with a Neoplatonized Aristotelianism; however, after him it was Avicenna’s philosophical vision that came to dominate, which ...
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Prior to Avicenna, philosophy in Arabic-speaking lands was identified with a Neoplatonized Aristotelianism; however, after him it was Avicenna’s philosophical vision that came to dominate, which itself incorporated the best of ancient Greek science and philosophy with the Islamic religion, law, and theology. Even among later Jewish and Christian philosophers, Avicenna was to have a significant influence. This chapter, thus, considers some of the more notable instances of Avicenna’s influence both on Judeo-Islamic philosophical theology and Christian scholasticism. The chapter gestures at Avicenna’s influence on such luminaries within the intellectual circles of Muslims and Jews as the great Islamic theologian al-Ghazālī, as-Suhrawardī, the founder of the Illuminationist school, and the renowned Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides, while Christian philosophers in the Latin West inspired by Avicenna include Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, and Duns Scotus.Less
Prior to Avicenna, philosophy in Arabic-speaking lands was identified with a Neoplatonized Aristotelianism; however, after him it was Avicenna’s philosophical vision that came to dominate, which itself incorporated the best of ancient Greek science and philosophy with the Islamic religion, law, and theology. Even among later Jewish and Christian philosophers, Avicenna was to have a significant influence. This chapter, thus, considers some of the more notable instances of Avicenna’s influence both on Judeo-Islamic philosophical theology and Christian scholasticism. The chapter gestures at Avicenna’s influence on such luminaries within the intellectual circles of Muslims and Jews as the great Islamic theologian al-Ghazālī, as-Suhrawardī, the founder of the Illuminationist school, and the renowned Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides, while Christian philosophers in the Latin West inspired by Avicenna include Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, and Duns Scotus.
Robert Eisen
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199751471
- eISBN:
- 9780199894833
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199751471.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This study provides a comprehensive analysis of Jewish views on peace and violence. It examines five major thought-worlds in Judaism—the Bible, rabbinic Judaism, medieval Jewish philosophy, Kabbalah, ...
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This study provides a comprehensive analysis of Jewish views on peace and violence. It examines five major thought-worlds in Judaism—the Bible, rabbinic Judaism, medieval Jewish philosophy, Kabbalah, and modern Zionism—and it demonstrates that each of these thought-worlds exhibits ambiguity regarding peace and violence. To make this case, an unusual format has been adopted. Two separate analyses are presented for each of the thought-worlds: one that argues for a peaceful reading of Judaism, and another that argues for a violent reading. The aim is to show that both readings are valid and authentic interpretations of Judaism. The study also explores why Judaism is so ambiguous on the issues of peace and violence by examining the interpretive methods that support each reading. These include such techniques as the selection of texts that support a viewpoint, selective emphasis on some texts at the expense of others, and the use of historical context to give meaning to a text. This study is relevant not just for Judaism. Other religions exhibit the same ambiguities that Judaism does when it comes to peace and violence. This study is therefore meant to provide a model for the analysis of other religious traditions as well.Less
This study provides a comprehensive analysis of Jewish views on peace and violence. It examines five major thought-worlds in Judaism—the Bible, rabbinic Judaism, medieval Jewish philosophy, Kabbalah, and modern Zionism—and it demonstrates that each of these thought-worlds exhibits ambiguity regarding peace and violence. To make this case, an unusual format has been adopted. Two separate analyses are presented for each of the thought-worlds: one that argues for a peaceful reading of Judaism, and another that argues for a violent reading. The aim is to show that both readings are valid and authentic interpretations of Judaism. The study also explores why Judaism is so ambiguous on the issues of peace and violence by examining the interpretive methods that support each reading. These include such techniques as the selection of texts that support a viewpoint, selective emphasis on some texts at the expense of others, and the use of historical context to give meaning to a text. This study is relevant not just for Judaism. Other religions exhibit the same ambiguities that Judaism does when it comes to peace and violence. This study is therefore meant to provide a model for the analysis of other religious traditions as well.
Lenn E. Goodman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195328820
- eISBN:
- 9780199870172
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195328820.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
In this expanded text of his 2005 Gifford Lectures, the well‐known philosopher Lenn Goodman details how the Torah and the rabbinic Sages flesh out the demands of the Bible's core ethical imperative: ...
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In this expanded text of his 2005 Gifford Lectures, the well‐known philosopher Lenn Goodman details how the Torah and the rabbinic Sages flesh out the demands of the Bible's core ethical imperative: Love thy neighbor as thyself. The philosophy of monotheism and the ethics of charity, justice, and love, Goodman argues, go hand in hand, informing, enlarging, and enlightening one another: The idea of God's goodness infuses every practical and intellectual facet of the Judaic moral ideal. Our ethical commitments are deepened, broadened, and intensified by our understanding of God's love; our knowledge and love of God are enriched and given effect by our moral character and ethical practices.In a special “Q&A” section, Goodman continues the dialogue begun in Glasgow, addressing questions that arose in the lectures as to the place of the mitzvot or commandments in Judaism and comparing Christian, Muslim, and secular perspectives on divine commands and human obligations.Less
In this expanded text of his 2005 Gifford Lectures, the well‐known philosopher Lenn Goodman details how the Torah and the rabbinic Sages flesh out the demands of the Bible's core ethical imperative: Love thy neighbor as thyself. The philosophy of monotheism and the ethics of charity, justice, and love, Goodman argues, go hand in hand, informing, enlarging, and enlightening one another: The idea of God's goodness infuses every practical and intellectual facet of the Judaic moral ideal. Our ethical commitments are deepened, broadened, and intensified by our understanding of God's love; our knowledge and love of God are enriched and given effect by our moral character and ethical practices.
In a special “Q&A” section, Goodman continues the dialogue begun in Glasgow, addressing questions that arose in the lectures as to the place of the mitzvot or commandments in Judaism and comparing Christian, Muslim, and secular perspectives on divine commands and human obligations.
Willi Goetschel
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780823244966
- eISBN:
- 9780823252510
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823244966.003.0013
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter discusses the need to consider Jewish philosophy as a discipline and not merely as a category. It highlights the interrelationship between the emergence of modern philosophy and the ...
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This chapter discusses the need to consider Jewish philosophy as a discipline and not merely as a category. It highlights the interrelationship between the emergence of modern philosophy and the invention of Jewish thought as its critical supplement and argues that the dialogue between Jewish and German philosophers is one of the most creative force fields in the development of modern philosophy. This chapter also discusses the contribution of Hermann Levin Goldschmidt in highlighting the enduring importance of the legacy of modern Jewry's sustained reasoning “out of the sources of Judaism” and in making the contributions of Jewish philosophers of the past newly legible as a creative dialogue crucially important to the project of critical philosophy.Less
This chapter discusses the need to consider Jewish philosophy as a discipline and not merely as a category. It highlights the interrelationship between the emergence of modern philosophy and the invention of Jewish thought as its critical supplement and argues that the dialogue between Jewish and German philosophers is one of the most creative force fields in the development of modern philosophy. This chapter also discusses the contribution of Hermann Levin Goldschmidt in highlighting the enduring importance of the legacy of modern Jewry's sustained reasoning “out of the sources of Judaism” and in making the contributions of Jewish philosophers of the past newly legible as a creative dialogue crucially important to the project of critical philosophy.
Shira Weiss
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190684426
- eISBN:
- 9780190684457
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190684426.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
The introductory chapter describes Joseph Albo’s biography and historical context to provide background for an analysis of his work. The structure and content of his popular Sefer ha-‘Iqqarim is ...
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The introductory chapter describes Joseph Albo’s biography and historical context to provide background for an analysis of his work. The structure and content of his popular Sefer ha-‘Iqqarim is discussed, as well as his philosophical influences. Criticism of Albo as an unoriginal philosopher is described in an effort to refute the scholarly consensus and argue for the philosophical ingenuity embedded within Albo’s individual homilies. The explicit objective of Albo’s Sefer ha-‘Iqqarim was to provide an explication of dogma to defend the authenticity of Judaism and create a uniform set of Jewish doctrine for his persecuted coreligionists. Albo integrates individual biblical homilies that convey theological lessons within his discussions of principles of faith which provide a vivid and accessible understanding of complex philosophical ideas. Several of Albo’s exegetical analyses focus on free choice, which emerges as a conceptual scheme throughout his work, demonstrating its significance during a period of religious coercion.Less
The introductory chapter describes Joseph Albo’s biography and historical context to provide background for an analysis of his work. The structure and content of his popular Sefer ha-‘Iqqarim is discussed, as well as his philosophical influences. Criticism of Albo as an unoriginal philosopher is described in an effort to refute the scholarly consensus and argue for the philosophical ingenuity embedded within Albo’s individual homilies. The explicit objective of Albo’s Sefer ha-‘Iqqarim was to provide an explication of dogma to defend the authenticity of Judaism and create a uniform set of Jewish doctrine for his persecuted coreligionists. Albo integrates individual biblical homilies that convey theological lessons within his discussions of principles of faith which provide a vivid and accessible understanding of complex philosophical ideas. Several of Albo’s exegetical analyses focus on free choice, which emerges as a conceptual scheme throughout his work, demonstrating its significance during a period of religious coercion.
Willi Goetschel
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780823244966
- eISBN:
- 9780823252510
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823244966.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
Exploring the subject of Jewish philosophy as a controversial construction site of the project of modernity, this book examines the implications of the different and often conflicting notions that ...
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Exploring the subject of Jewish philosophy as a controversial construction site of the project of modernity, this book examines the implications of the different and often conflicting notions that drive the debate on the question of what Jewish philosophy is or could be. The idea of Jewish philosophy begs the question of philosophy as such. But “Jewish philosophy” does not just reflect what “philosophy” lacks. Rather, it challenges the project of philosophy itself. Examining the thought of Spinoza, Moses Mendelssohn, Heinrich Heine, Hermann Cohen Franz Rosenzweig, Martin Buber, Margarete Susman, Hermann Levin Goldschmidt, and others, the book highlights how the most philosophic moments of their works are those in which specific concerns of their “Jewish questions” inform the rethinking of philosophy's disciplinarity in principal terms. The overdue recognition of the modernity that informs the critical trajectories of Jewish philosophers from Spinoza and Mendelssohn to the present emancipates not just “Jewish philosophy” from an infelicitous pigeonhole these philosophers so pointedly sought to reject but, more important, emancipates philosophy from its false claims to universalism.Less
Exploring the subject of Jewish philosophy as a controversial construction site of the project of modernity, this book examines the implications of the different and often conflicting notions that drive the debate on the question of what Jewish philosophy is or could be. The idea of Jewish philosophy begs the question of philosophy as such. But “Jewish philosophy” does not just reflect what “philosophy” lacks. Rather, it challenges the project of philosophy itself. Examining the thought of Spinoza, Moses Mendelssohn, Heinrich Heine, Hermann Cohen Franz Rosenzweig, Martin Buber, Margarete Susman, Hermann Levin Goldschmidt, and others, the book highlights how the most philosophic moments of their works are those in which specific concerns of their “Jewish questions” inform the rethinking of philosophy's disciplinarity in principal terms. The overdue recognition of the modernity that informs the critical trajectories of Jewish philosophers from Spinoza and Mendelssohn to the present emancipates not just “Jewish philosophy” from an infelicitous pigeonhole these philosophers so pointedly sought to reject but, more important, emancipates philosophy from its false claims to universalism.
Aaron W. Hughes
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199356812
- eISBN:
- 9780199358199
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199356812.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism, Philosophy of Religion
It is customary to begin studies devoted to the topic of Jewish philosophy by defining what exactly this term, concept, or even discipline is. Unless done so in a pejorative sense, we tend not to ...
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It is customary to begin studies devoted to the topic of Jewish philosophy by defining what exactly this term, concept, or even discipline is. Unless done so in a pejorative sense, we tend not to speak of Jewish mathematics, Jewish physics, or Jewish sociology. All the nouns in these compounds imply a discipline that, for the most part, is agreed upon by all who engage in it; yet, when the particularist adjective “Jewish” is added, the result is nonsense. If we are not comfortable with coupling particularist adjectives and universally recognized disciplines, why do we insist on thinking that it is okay to refer to something as “Jewish philosophy”? Can one philosophize from a Jewish perspective? Does Judaism provide some sort of insight into philosophy that those who are not Jewish lack? Implicit in the term “Jewish philosophy,” not surprisingly, is a great paradox.Less
It is customary to begin studies devoted to the topic of Jewish philosophy by defining what exactly this term, concept, or even discipline is. Unless done so in a pejorative sense, we tend not to speak of Jewish mathematics, Jewish physics, or Jewish sociology. All the nouns in these compounds imply a discipline that, for the most part, is agreed upon by all who engage in it; yet, when the particularist adjective “Jewish” is added, the result is nonsense. If we are not comfortable with coupling particularist adjectives and universally recognized disciplines, why do we insist on thinking that it is okay to refer to something as “Jewish philosophy”? Can one philosophize from a Jewish perspective? Does Judaism provide some sort of insight into philosophy that those who are not Jewish lack? Implicit in the term “Jewish philosophy,” not surprisingly, is a great paradox.
Tzvi Novick, Samuel Lebens, Dani Rabinowitz, and Aaron Segal
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- August 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198811374
- eISBN:
- 9780191848407
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198811374.003.0018
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
To what extent are the methodological assumptions of contemporary Jewish studies in conflict with the project of this book? Tzvi Novick begins a discussion with the editors in order to bring the ...
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To what extent are the methodological assumptions of contemporary Jewish studies in conflict with the project of this book? Tzvi Novick begins a discussion with the editors in order to bring the contours of this issue sharply into focus.Less
To what extent are the methodological assumptions of contemporary Jewish studies in conflict with the project of this book? Tzvi Novick begins a discussion with the editors in order to bring the contours of this issue sharply into focus.
Aaron W. Hughes
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199356812
- eISBN:
- 9780199358199
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199356812.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter uses the figure of Maimonides as its case study, and his writings as a prism with which to re-imagine the creation of a canon of medieval Jewish philosophy in the nineteenth century. The ...
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This chapter uses the figure of Maimonides as its case study, and his writings as a prism with which to re-imagine the creation of a canon of medieval Jewish philosophy in the nineteenth century. The quest to create a good, rational, and liberal medieval Jew has created an unstable terrain upon which stands the edifice of Jewish philosophy. This chapter seeks to deconstruct our inherited narrative of the history of medieval Jewish philosophy by retelling it from a different perspective. The medieval Jewish philosophers, while claiming rationalism as their gold standard, produced a totalitarian version of Judaism, one predicated on what they considered to be an authentic and pristine past.Less
This chapter uses the figure of Maimonides as its case study, and his writings as a prism with which to re-imagine the creation of a canon of medieval Jewish philosophy in the nineteenth century. The quest to create a good, rational, and liberal medieval Jew has created an unstable terrain upon which stands the edifice of Jewish philosophy. This chapter seeks to deconstruct our inherited narrative of the history of medieval Jewish philosophy by retelling it from a different perspective. The medieval Jewish philosophers, while claiming rationalism as their gold standard, produced a totalitarian version of Judaism, one predicated on what they considered to be an authentic and pristine past.
Aaron W. Hughes
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199356812
- eISBN:
- 9780199358199
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199356812.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism, Philosophy of Religion
Focuses on the present moment and the ways in which Jewish philosophy must confront diversity in its midst. It suggests that the goal of Jewish philosophy should not be to create an authentic or ...
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Focuses on the present moment and the ways in which Jewish philosophy must confront diversity in its midst. It suggests that the goal of Jewish philosophy should not be to create an authentic or veritable Judaism, but to show a complex and contradictory Judaism, one that often speaks with many voices to any given subject. Rather than proceed along the normative lines of a particular/universal binary, this chapter attempts to provide an alternative to it. But what might this alternative look like? Will it even be recognizable as Jewish philosophy? Can the universal take on the particular in a manner that avoids the violence of colonialism, and is it possible for the particular to confront the universal without becoming drawn to the parochialism of tribalism?Less
Focuses on the present moment and the ways in which Jewish philosophy must confront diversity in its midst. It suggests that the goal of Jewish philosophy should not be to create an authentic or veritable Judaism, but to show a complex and contradictory Judaism, one that often speaks with many voices to any given subject. Rather than proceed along the normative lines of a particular/universal binary, this chapter attempts to provide an alternative to it. But what might this alternative look like? Will it even be recognizable as Jewish philosophy? Can the universal take on the particular in a manner that avoids the violence of colonialism, and is it possible for the particular to confront the universal without becoming drawn to the parochialism of tribalism?
Samuel Lebens, Dani Rabinowitz, and Aaron Segal
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- August 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198811374
- eISBN:
- 9780191848407
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198811374.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter attempts to characterize analytic philosophy as an intellectual tradition, and sketches the potential it has to spark a new age in Jewish philosophy. The chapter also outlines the ...
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This chapter attempts to characterize analytic philosophy as an intellectual tradition, and sketches the potential it has to spark a new age in Jewish philosophy. The chapter also outlines the structure and content of the rest of the volume.Less
This chapter attempts to characterize analytic philosophy as an intellectual tradition, and sketches the potential it has to spark a new age in Jewish philosophy. The chapter also outlines the structure and content of the rest of the volume.
Alan L. Mittleman
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691176277
- eISBN:
- 9781400865789
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691176277.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This book explores one of the great questions of our time: How can we preserve our sense of what it means to be a person while at the same time accepting what science tells us to be true—namely, that ...
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This book explores one of the great questions of our time: How can we preserve our sense of what it means to be a person while at the same time accepting what science tells us to be true—namely, that human nature is continuous with the rest of nature? What, in other words, does it mean to be a person in a world of things? This book shows how the Jewish tradition provides rich ways of understanding human nature and personhood that preserve human dignity and distinction in a world of neuroscience, evolutionary biology, biotechnology, and pervasive scientism. These ancient resources can speak to Jewish, non-Jewish, and secular readers alike. Science may tell us what we are, the book says, but it cannot tell us who we are, how we should live, or why we matter. Traditional Jewish thought, in open-minded dialogue with contemporary scientific perspectives, can help us answer these questions. The book shows how, using sources ranging across the Jewish tradition, from the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud to more than a millennium of Jewish philosophy. Among the many subjects the book addresses are sexuality, birth and death, violence and evil, moral agency, and politics and economics. Throughout, the book demonstrates how Jewish tradition brings new perspectives to—and challenges many current assumptions about—these central aspects of human nature. A study of human nature in Jewish thought and an original contribution to Jewish philosophy, this is a book for anyone interested in what it means to be human in a scientific age.Less
This book explores one of the great questions of our time: How can we preserve our sense of what it means to be a person while at the same time accepting what science tells us to be true—namely, that human nature is continuous with the rest of nature? What, in other words, does it mean to be a person in a world of things? This book shows how the Jewish tradition provides rich ways of understanding human nature and personhood that preserve human dignity and distinction in a world of neuroscience, evolutionary biology, biotechnology, and pervasive scientism. These ancient resources can speak to Jewish, non-Jewish, and secular readers alike. Science may tell us what we are, the book says, but it cannot tell us who we are, how we should live, or why we matter. Traditional Jewish thought, in open-minded dialogue with contemporary scientific perspectives, can help us answer these questions. The book shows how, using sources ranging across the Jewish tradition, from the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud to more than a millennium of Jewish philosophy. Among the many subjects the book addresses are sexuality, birth and death, violence and evil, moral agency, and politics and economics. Throughout, the book demonstrates how Jewish tradition brings new perspectives to—and challenges many current assumptions about—these central aspects of human nature. A study of human nature in Jewish thought and an original contribution to Jewish philosophy, this is a book for anyone interested in what it means to be human in a scientific age.
