FOURTH MACCABEES AND THE PROMOTION OF THE JEWISH PHILOSOPHY: RHETORIC, INTERTEXTURE, AND RECEPTION. By David A.deSilva. Eugene, Ore.: Cascade, 2020. Pp. xvi + 252. $32.00

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 385-386
Keyword(s):  
Jewish Philosophy

What Is Jewish Philosophy?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. M. Rudavsky
Keyword(s):  
Moral Theory ◽  
Western Thought ◽  
Christian Philosophy ◽  
Faith And Reason ◽  
The World ◽  
Jewish Philosophy ◽  
Medieval Jewish Philosophy ◽  
The Relationship

Medieval Jewish philosophy, like Islamic and Christian philosophy, is fundamentally focused on the relationship between “faith and reason.” Arising as an effort toward harmonizing the tenets of Judaism with current philosophic teachings, medieval Jewish philosophy deals with problems in which there appears to be a conflict between philosophical speculation and acceptance of dogmas of the Judaic faith. This chapter reviews the nature of Jewish philosophy as well as the tension between Judaism and Science. It positions Jewish philosophy within the broader context of Western thought, and distinguishes philosophy from the world of the Rabbis. It then provides an overview of the major themes of the work, which include issues of omniscience, providence, reason, and moral theory.

Spinoza’s Afterlife in Judaism and the Task of Modern Jewish Philosophy

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael L. Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Emmanuel Levinas ◽  
Leo Strauss ◽  
Philosophical Significance ◽  
Jewish Philosophy ◽  
Jewish Intellectuals

This article examines Baruch Spinoza’s legacy within Judaism and his impact on modern Jewish philosophy. It first considers some of the Jewish intellectuals and leaders who have found inspiration or provocation in Spinoza, and then turns to Spinozism in Judaism and the philosophical significance of Spinoza’s reception among the Jews. It then explores the ways in which Spinoza has become a symbol of philosophical tendencies in Jewish self-understanding and concludes by discussing how Spinoza’s symbolic presence signals a dialectic in modern Jewish philosophy concerning various interpretations of Jewish existence and their interaction. More specifically, it looks at three Jewish philosophers who have at one time or another taken an interest in Spinoza, with emphasis on their various responses to him: Leo Strauss, Emil Fackenheim, and Emmanuel Levinas.

Maimonides’s Rationalization of the Incest Taboo, Its Reception in Thirteenth-Century Kabbalah, and Their Affinity to Aquinas

2021 ◽  
Vol 114 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-392
Author(s):  
Leore Sachs-Shmueli
Keyword(s):  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Incest Taboo ◽  
Common Presentation ◽  
The Common ◽  
Jewish Philosophy

AbstractThis article discusses Maimonides’s rationale for the incest taboo and traces its reception in Christian and kabbalistic traditions in the thirteenth century. Tracing the reception of Maimonides’s view enables recognition of the resemblance between Maimonides and Aquinas, the ambivalent stance toward Maimonides’s explanation expressed by Nahmanides, and the incorporation of Maimonides’s reasoning in one of the most systematic and enigmatic works of kabbalistic rationalization of the commandments, the Castilian Kabbalist Joseph of Hamadan’s The Book of the Rationales of the Negative Commandments. R. Joseph’s acceptance of Maimonidean principles and his integration of them in the theurgic Kabbalah reveal a conflict in the heart of its system and teach us about an important aspect of the theory of sexuality in Kabbalah. The inquiry offered here examines the inter-relations between divergent medieval religious trends in constructing the role of sexuality. Instead of the common presentation of Kabbalah as diverging from the ascetic positions of Jewish philosophy and Christianity, this analysis will elucidate Kabbalah’s continuity with them.

The Boundaries of Knowledge: The Unity of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s Jewish Philosophy in Light of His Doctoral Dissertation

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 262-296
Author(s):  
Mark Smilowitz
Keyword(s):  
Doctoral Dissertation ◽  
Dialectical Method ◽  
Religious View ◽  
Jewish Philosophy ◽  
Epistemological Pluralism ◽  
Philosophical Writings

Abstract Two philosophical positions adopted by Soloveitchik in his doctoral dissertation continued to inform his Jewish philosophical writings throughout his career. The first position, epistemological pluralism, stands behind Soloveitchik’s approach to the religious view of causality and repentance in his writings during the 1940s–1960s. It also grounds his consistent use of the dialectical method. The second position, the eternal mystery of the unknown, comes from the Marburg neo-Kantian Paul Natorp; this idea is a consistent thread throughout Soloveitchik’s writings and a foundation of his existentialist writings through the late 1970s. The conclusion suggests how these two positions might be related to one another.

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