Autonomy in Jewish Philosophy

Autonomy in Jewish Philosophy PDF Author: Kenneth Seeskin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139430432
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 269

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Book Description
Autonomy in Jewish Philosophy examines an important theme in Jewish thought from the Book of Genesis to the present day. Although it is customary to view Judaism as a legalistic faith leaving little room for free thought or individual expression, Kenneth Seeskin argues that this view is wrong. Where some see the essence of the religion as strict obedience to divine commands, Seeskin claims that God does not just command but forms a partnership with humans requiring the consent of both parties. Looking at classic texts from Biblical, Rabbinic, and philosophical literature, Seeskin shows that Judaism has always respected freedom of conscience and assigned an important role to the power of human reason. The book considers both existing arguments and presents its own ideas about the role of autonomy in Judaism. Clear and concise, it offers a refreshing alternative to the mysticism and dogmatism prevalent in much of the literature.

Autonomy in Jewish Philosophy

Autonomy in Jewish Philosophy PDF Author: Kenneth Seeskin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521114622
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
Although it is customary to view Judaism as a legalistic faith leaving little room for free thought or individual expression, Kenneth Seeskin argues that this view is wrong. Looking at classic texts from Biblical, Rabbinic, and philosophical literature, Seeskin shows that Judaism has always respected freedom of conscience and assigned an important role to the power of human reason. Clear and concise, this book offers a refreshing alternative to the mysticism and dogmatism prevalent in much of the recent literature.

Autonomy in Jewish Philosophy

Autonomy in Jewish Philosophy PDF Author: Kenneth Seeskin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139430432
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 269

Get Book Here

Book Description
Autonomy in Jewish Philosophy examines an important theme in Jewish thought from the Book of Genesis to the present day. Although it is customary to view Judaism as a legalistic faith leaving little room for free thought or individual expression, Kenneth Seeskin argues that this view is wrong. Where some see the essence of the religion as strict obedience to divine commands, Seeskin claims that God does not just command but forms a partnership with humans requiring the consent of both parties. Looking at classic texts from Biblical, Rabbinic, and philosophical literature, Seeskin shows that Judaism has always respected freedom of conscience and assigned an important role to the power of human reason. The book considers both existing arguments and presents its own ideas about the role of autonomy in Judaism. Clear and concise, it offers a refreshing alternative to the mysticism and dogmatism prevalent in much of the literature.

Judaism Examined

Judaism Examined PDF Author: Moshe Sokol
Publisher: Academic Studies Press
ISBN: 9781618111654
Category : Jewish ethics
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This volume of essays examines key themes in Jewish philosophy and ethics from the rigorous perspective of philosophical analysis. The first set of essays takes up the challenge of living a Jewish life, and includes essays on pleasure, joy, human suffering, Jewish ritual practice and the philosophical life. The second set of essays analyzes the value and meaning of autonomy, human freedom and tolerance in Jewish thought, crucial themes in western political thought and life. Other essays in the volume examine the many meanings of Jewish texts, and such crucial issues in applied Jewish ethics as ecology, medical ethics, and justified homicide. Finally, a number of essays plumb the depths of one of the most influential and creative Jewish thinkers of the twentieth century, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Taken as a whole, this volume advances the engagement of classical Jewish themes with Anglo-American philosophy, shedding new light both on the Jewish tradition, and on the western philosophical enterprise.

A People Apart

A People Apart PDF Author: Daniel H. Frank
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438403208
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
Philosphical speculations on chosenness and ritual in Judaism.

Philosophical Religions from Plato to Spinoza

Philosophical Religions from Plato to Spinoza PDF Author: Carlos Fraenkel
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521194571
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 357

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Book Description
This groundbreaking account of the concept of a philosophical religion traces its history from antiquity to the Enlightenment.

Rabbinic Authority and Personal Autonomy

Rabbinic Authority and Personal Autonomy PDF Author: Moshe Sokol
Publisher: Jason Aronson
ISBN: 9780876685815
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
Does traditional Jewish life encourage or discourage personal autonomy? To what extent are decisions of Jewish law influenced by subjective factors? Does rabbinic authority extend to all areas of life or does it confine itself to a narrower field of influence? What freedom does a rabbinic authority have to make innovations, and are there grounds for pluralism within the system of Jewish law? These questions cut to the core of Jewish life in the modern world. With the advent of modernity, great emphasis has been placed on the value of personal autonomy. Yet traditional Judaism has historically emphasized the authority of the rabbinic decision maker. The essays in this volume are concerned with exploring the tension between these two poles. Experts from such diverse fields as history, sociology, philosophy, and Jewish law explore the questions raised above. Their analyses are informed not only by their academic expertise but by their deep understanding of the Jewish legal system and Jewish life and their abiding concern for what it means to live that life in the modern world. The contributors to this volume were participants in the Orthodox Forum, an annual gathering of scholars who meet to consider major issues of concern to the Jewish community.

Autonomy and Judaism

Autonomy and Judaism PDF Author: Daniel H. Frank
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438403178
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
This volume brings together leading philosophers of Judaism on the issue of autonomy in the Jewish tradition. Addressing themselves to the relationship of the individual Jew to the Jewish community and to the world at large, some selections are systematic in scope, while others are more historically focused. The authors address issues ranging from the earliest expressions of individual human fulfillment in the Bible and medieval Jewish discussions of the human good to modern discussions of the necessity for the Jew to maintain both a Jewish sensibility as well as an active engagement in the modern pluralistic state. Contributors include Eugene Borowitz, Elliot N. Dorff, Daniel H. Frank, Robert Gibbs, Lenn E. Goodman, Ze'ev Levy, Kenneth Seeskin, and Martin D. Yaffe.

The Significance of Religious Experience

The Significance of Religious Experience PDF Author: Howard Wettstein
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190226757
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
In this volume of essays, Howard Wettstein explores the foundations of religious commitment. His orientation is broadly naturalistic, but not in the mode of reductionism or eliminativism. This collection explores questions of broad religious interest, but does so through a focus on the author's religious tradition, Judaism. Among the issues explored are the nature and role of awe, ritual, doctrine, religious experience; the distinction between belief and faith; problems of evil and suffering with special attention to the Book of Job and to the Akedah, the biblical story of the binding of Isaac; the virtue of forgiveness. One of the book's highlights is its literary (as opposed to philosophical) approach to theology that at the same time makes room for philosophical exploration of religion. Another is Wettstein's rejection of the usual picture that sees religious life as sitting atop a distinctive metaphysical foundation, one that stands in need of epistemological justification.

Two Models of Jewish Philosophy

Two Models of Jewish Philosophy PDF Author: Daniel Rynhold
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191534544
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
In a work that illustrates how Jewish philosophy can make a genuine contribution to general philosophical debate, Daniel Rynhold attempts to formulate a model for the justification of practices by applying the methods of modern analytic philosophy to approaches to the rationalization of the commandments from the history of Jewish philosophy. Through critical analysis of the methods of Moses Maimonides and Joseph Soloveitchik, Rynhold argues against propositional approaches to justifying practices that he terms Priority of Theory approaches and offers instead his own method, termed the Priority of Practice, which emphasizes the need for a more pragmatic take on this whole issue.

Politics and the Limits of Law

Politics and the Limits of Law PDF Author: Menachem Lorberbaum
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 0804780048
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
This book explores the emergence of the fundamental political concepts of medieval Jewish thought, arguing that alongside the well known theocratic elements of the Bible there exists a vital tradition that conceives of politics as a necessary and legitimate domain of worldly activity that preceded religious law in the ordering of society. Since the Enlightenment, the separation of religion and state has been a central theme in Western political history and thought, a separation that upholds the freedom of conscience of the individual. In medieval political thought, however, the doctrine of the separation of religion and state played a much different role. On the one hand, it served to maintain the integrity of religious law versus the monarch, whether canon law, Islamic law, or Jewish law. On the other hand, it upheld the autonomy of the monarch and the autonomy of human political agency against theocratic claims of divine sovereignty and clerical authority. Postulating the realm of secular politics leads the author to construct a theory of the precedence of politics over religious law in the organization of social life. He argues that the attempts of medieval philosophers to understand religion and the polity provide new perspectives on the viability of an accommodation between revelation and legislation, the holy and the profane, the divine and the temporal. The book shows that in spite of the long exile of the Jewish people, there is, unquestionably, a tradition of Jewish political discourse based on the canonical sources of Jewish law. In addition to providing a fresh analysis of Maimonides, it analyzes works of Nahmanides, Solomon ibn Adret, and Nissim Gerondi that are largely unknown to the English-speaking reader. Finally, it suggests that the historical corpus of Jewish political writing remains vital today, with much to contribute to the ongoing debates over church-state relations and theocratic societies.