Jewish Philosophy after Kant (original) (raw)

KANT ON THE JEWS AND THEIR RELIGION

The main focus of the article is the analysis of Kant's notion of Judaism and his attitude toward the Jewish nation in a new context. Kant's views on the Jewish religion are juxtaposed with those of Mendelssohn and Spinoza in order to emphasize several interesting features of Kant's political and religious thought. In particular, the analysis shows that, unlike Mendelssohn, Kant did not consider tolerance to be the last word of the enlightened state in matters of its coexistence with religion. The author also argues that Kant's fascination with Mendelssohn's Jerusalem was premature and that his later disappointment with Mendelssohn's persistent adherence to Jewish orthodoxy re-fl ects his understanding of the condition of Judaism in the context of the new era of Enlightenment. Moreover, the paper addresses in a novel way the relevant connections between Kant and Spinoza, showing substantive similarities between their notions of Judaism and Christianity, and provides an overview of Kant's historical involvement with Jewish issues, which are signifi cant given the argumentative structure of the article. In this article I discuss Kant's conception of Judaism and his attitudes toward the Jewry of his time. In the fi rst and second part of the text I analyse the historical material concerning the direct connections between Kant and his Jewish contemporaries and present his view on the Jewish nation as such. I highlight Kant's ambivalent attitude to this nation-like many other Enlightenment fi gures, he praised and encouraged the Jews inclined towards assimilation, but at the same time shared the prejudices of his period with respect to Jewish people in general. In parts three and four I deal with the depiction of the Jewish religion in Kant's writings. I compare it with the views of Spinoza and Mendelssohn from the Theological Political Treatise and Jerusalem or on Religious Power and Judaism, respectively. Through this juxtaposition I hope to show some interesting and thus far largely unrecognized connections between the conceptions of those three authors. In particular, I show the existence of substantive similarities between Kant's and Spinoza's notion of Judaism

What is Jewish Philosophy? A View from the Middle Ages

2017, 2017

KeynoteL ecturea tt he Grand Opening of the Maimonides Centre forA dvanced Studies on 29 October,2 015 My late teacherProfessor Sidney Morgenbesser often taught his studentsthe 'laws' of JewishP hilosophyor, more specifically, of Jewishlogic,Jewishepistemology,Jewish metaphysics,and so on. Forexample, the laws of general logic are tautologies like 'If p, then p' or 'If it is the casethat if p, then q, then not-q,then not-p.' The first lawof Jewish Logic is: 'If p, whyn ot q(spoken with aY iddish accent)?'¹ The question-What is Jewish Philosophy?-is typicallya nswered by describing Jewishp hilosophies,i .e,the books, theories, and doctrines of canonicalJ ewishp hilosophers, such as,S aadiah Gaon, Moses ben Maimon (Maimonides), Judah Halevi, Levi ben Gershon(Gersonides). Indeed the distinguisheds cholar of Jewishp hilosophy, Julius Guttmann, entitled his classic history, Philosophies of Judaism.² But Jewish philosophyismore than asequence of doctrines or books. Like all philosophy, it is an activity,something one 'does.'³ Forsome it is an intellectual exercise that solves theoretical puzzles. Foro thers these exercises are practices that constituteawayo f life, practices that give central place to the intellect and reasoning but aim at apractical end, the achievement of happiness or aharmonious life in which one'sJ udaism and intellect are in sync.⁴ In either case, philosophyisapursuit in which one engages, not onlyasubjectm atter or the results of the pursuit. Then ameo ft he subject 'Jewish Philosophy' first emergedi nG ermany in thel ate seventeenth centuryand earlyeighteenthcentury when we find the firsthistories of philosophy-andthe very idea that philosophyhas ahistory.The earliest histories areinthe doxographical tradition, portraying certain historical figuresa sp aradigms of what was then considered to be philosophical wisdom.Slightlylaterhistoriesweredevelopmental * Manythanks to Michael Fagenblat,Zev Harvey,and David Shatz for very helpful conversations and comments on earlier drafts of this paper.  And of Jewish epistemology: 'Your mother always knows best.' And of Jewish metaphysics: 'To be is to be in tzures ("pain, suffering").' And of Jewish aesthetics: 'Beauty is for the goyim.'  But onlyinthe English translation which was not authorizedbyhim; the title of the German original uses the singular: Die Philosophie des Judentums.

Judaism and Jewish philosophy: a bibliography

This is far from an exhaustive compilation, although I hope it is at least representative of the literature (books) available in English. Its scope is a bit smaller than "Jewish Studies" as such, but it nevertheless encompasses much of what is found there.

Jewish philosophy as a Direction of the World philosophy of Modern and Contemporary Times

RUDN Journal of Philosophy, 2019

This article represents an analysis of the Jewish philosophy of the Modern and Contemporary as the holistic phenomenon. In contrast to antiquity and the Middle Ages, when philosophy was a rather marginal part of Jewish thought, in Modern Times Jewish philosophy is formed as a distinct part of the World philosophy. Despite the fact that representatives of Jewish philosophy wrote in different languages and actively participated in the different national schools of philosophy, their work has internal continuity and integrity. The article formulates the following five criteria for belonging to Jewish philosophy: belonging to philosophy itself; reliance on Jewish sources; the addressee of Jewish philosophy is an educated European; intellectual continuity (representatives of the Jewish philosophy of Modern and Contemporary Periods support each other, argue with each other and protect each other from possible attacks from other schools); working with a set of specific topics, such as monis...

Jewish Philosophy Past and Present: Contemporary Responses to Classical Sources

Routledge, 2017

In this innovative volume contemporary philosophers respond to classic works of Jewish philosophy. For each of twelve central topics in Jewish philosophy, Jewish philosophical readings, drawn from the medieval period through the twentieth century, appear alongside an invited contribution that engages both the readings and the contemporary philosophical literature in a constructive dialogue. The twelve topics are organized into four parts, and each topic and part commences with an overview of the ensuing dialogue and concludes with a list of further readings. The introduction to the volume assesses the current state of Jewish philosophy and argues for a deeper engagement with analytic philosophy, Jewish Philosophy Past and Present: Contemporary Responses to Classical Sources is a cutting edge work of Jewish philosophy, and, at the same time, an engaging introduction to the issues that animated Jewish philosophers for centuries and to the texts that they have produced. It is designed to set the agenda in Jewish philosophy for years to come.