The Cambridge Companion to Modern Jewish Philosophy (Cambridge Companions to Religion)

387 Pages·2007·1.54 MB·English

by  Michael L. Morgan

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the cambridge companion to
MODERN JEWISH PHILOSOPHY
TheCambridgeCompaniontoModernJewishPhilosophyisacollec-
tionoforiginalessaysthatexaminetheworkofsomeofthemostimpor-
tantJewishthinkersofthemodernera–theperiodextendingfromthe
seventeenthcenturytothelatetwentiethcentury.
Editors Michael L. Morgan and Peter Eli Gordon have brought
togetheragroupofworld-renownedscholarstopaintabroadandrich
pictureofthetraditionofmodernJewishphilosophyoveraperiodof
fourhundredyears.Beginningwiththeseventeenthcentury,modern
Jewishphilosophydevelopedamongthinkerswhorespondedtothenew
scienceandmodernphilosophyinthecourseofreflectingonthenature
ofJudaismandJewishlife.
Theessaysaddressthemesthatarecentraltothetraditionofmod-
ernJewishphilosophy–languageandrevelation,autonomyandauthor-
ity,theproblemofevil,Messianism,theinfluenceofKant,andfemi-
nism–anddiscussindepththeworkofmajorthinkerssuchasSpinoza,
Mendelssohn, Cohen, Buber, Rosenzweig, Fackenheim, Soloveitchik,
Strauss,Levinas,Maimon,Benjamin,Derrida,Scholem,andArendt.
Michael L. Morgan is Professor of Philosophy and Jewish Studies at
Indiana University. In 2004, he was named a Chancellor’s Professor.
Hehaspublishedarticlesinavarietyofjournalsandhaswrittensev-
eralbooks,includingInterimJudaism(2001);BeyondAuschwitz:Post-
HolocaustJewishThoughtinAmerica(2001);andDilemmasinModern
JewishThought:TheDialecticsofRevelationandHistory(1992).
PeterEliGordonisProfessorofHistoryatHarvardUniversity.Hehas
published widely on topics in modern European intellectual history,
modernContinentalphilosophy,andmodernJewishthought.Hisbook,
RosenzweigandHeidegger:BetweenJudaismandGermanPhilosophy
(2003),receivedseveraldistinguishedawards,includingtheGoldstein-
GorenPrizeforthebestbookinJewishphilosophy,theSaloW.Baron
PrizeforthebestfirstbookinJewishhistory,andthe2003Forkosch
Prizeforthebestbookinintellectualhistory.
Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2007
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cambridge companions to religion
Thisisaseriesofcompanionstomajortopicsandkeyfiguresin
theologyandreligiousstudies.Eachvolumecontainsspecially
commissionedchaptersbyinternationalscholarsthatprovidean
accessibleandstimulatingintroductiontothesubjectfornewreaders
andnonspecialists.
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ContinuedaftertheIndex
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the cambridge companion to
MODERN JEWISH
PHILOSOPHY
Edited by Michael L. Morgan
IndianaUniversity
Peter Eli Gordon
HarvardUniversity
Cambridge Collections Online © Cambridge University Press, 2007
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cambridgeuniversitypress
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(cid:2)c CambridgeUniversityPress2007
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithout
thewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2007
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Morgan,MichaelL.,1944–
TheCambridgecompaniontomodernJewishphilosophy/MichaelL.Morgan
andPeterEliGordon.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn-13:978-0-521-81312-9(hardback)
isbn-13:978-0-521-01255-3(pbk.)
1.Philosophy,Jewish. 2.Philosophy,Modern. 3.Jewishphilosophers.
4.Judaism–History–Modernperiod,1750–. I.Gordon,PeterEli. II.Title.
b755.m67 2007
181(cid:3).06–dc22 2006031065
isbn 978-0-521-81312-9hardback
isbn 978-0-521-01255-3paperback
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Contents
Contributors page ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Chronology xvii
1. Introduction:ModernJewishPhilosophy,Modern
Philosophy,andModernJudaism 1
michael l. morgan and peter eli gordon
2. BaruchSpinozaandtheNaturalizationofJudaism 14
steven nadler
3. TheLiberalismofMosesMendelssohn 35
allan arkush
4. JewishPhilosophyafterKant:TheLegacy
ofSalomonMaimon 53
paul w. franks
5. HermannCohen:JudaismandCriticalIdealism 80
andrea poma
6. Self,Other,Text,God:TheDialogicalThought
ofMartinBuber 102
tamra wright
7. FranzRosenzweigandthePhilosophy
ofJewishExistence 122
peter eli gordon
8. LeoStraussandModernJewishThought 147
steven b. smith
9. MessianismandModernJewishPhilosophy 170
pierre bouretz
10. Ethics,Authority,andAutonomy 192
kenneth seeskin
11. JosephSoloveitchikandHalakhicMan 209
lawrence j. kaplan
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viii Contents
12. EmmanuelLevinas:JudaismandthePrimacy
oftheEthical 234
richard a. cohen
13. EmilFackenheim,theHolocaust,andPhilosophy 256
michael l. morgan
14. Evil,Suffering,andtheHolocaust 277
berel lang
15. Revelation,Language,andCommentary:FromBuber
toDerrida 300
leora batnitzky
16. FeminismandModernJewishPhilosophy 324
tamar rudavsky
Bibliography 349
Index 365
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Contributors
AllanArkushisProfessorofJudaicStudiesandHistoryatBinghamtonUniver-
sity.HeistheauthorofMosesMendelssohnandtheEnlightenment(1994)and
numerousarticlesonmodernJewishhistoryandthought.
LeoraBatnitzkyisAssociateProfessorofReligionatPrincetonUniversity.She
istheauthorofLeoStraussandEmmanuelLevinas:PhilosophyandthePolitics
ofRevelation(2006)andIdolatryandRepresentation:ThePhilosophyofFranz
RosenzweigReconsidered(2000).SheisalsotheeditoroftheforthcomingMartin
Buber:SchriftenzurPhilosophieundReligionand,since2004,theco-editorof
JewishStudiesQuarterly.
PierreBouretzisProfessorofPhilosophyattheE´coledesHautesE´tudesenSci-
encesSociales(Paris).AmonghisrecentpublicationsareLatourdeBabel,with
MarcdeLaunayandJean-LouisScheffer(2003);Te´moinsdufutur:Philosophie
etmessianisme(2003);andQu’appelle-t-onphilosopher?(2006).
Richard A. Cohen is the Isaac Swift Distinguished Professor of Judaic Studies
at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is the author of Ethics,
Exegesis, and Philosophy: Interpretation after Levinas (2001) and Elevations:
TheHeightoftheGoodinRosenzweigandLevinas(1994);thetranslatoroffour
booksbyLevinas;theeditorofseveralbooksincontemporarythought;andthe
authorofnumerousarticlesincontemporaryContinentalphilosophy.
PaulW.FranksisProfessorofPhilosophyandamemberoftheJewishStudies
ProgramFacultyattheUniversityofToronto.HeistheauthorofAllorNothing:
Systematicity, Transcendental Arguments, and Skepticism in German Ideal-
ism (2005) and articles on post-Kantian and Jewish philosophy; co-editor and
co-translator(withMichaelL.Morgan)ofFranzRosenzweig:Philosophicaland
TheologicalWritings(2000);andassociateeditorofTheInternationalYearbook
ofGermanIdealism.
PeterEliGordonisProfessorofHistoryatHarvardUniversity.Heistheauthor
ofRosenzweigandHeidegger:BetweenJudaismandGermanPhilosophy(2003)
andContinentalDivide:Heidegger,Cassirer,Davos(forthcoming).
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