A History of Modern Jewish Religious Philosophy: Volume 1 - The Period of the Enlightenment

Contents......Page 8
Translator’s Preface......Page 12
Abbreviations......Page 18
Defining the Topic and Purpose of This Work......Page 20
The Identity of Jewish Philosophy and Its Place in General Philosophy......Page 26
“Religious Philosophy” versus “Philosophy of Religion”......Page 33
The Crisis of Religion in the Period of the Enlightenment—the Beginnings of Modern General and Jewish Philosophy......Page 44
The Special Task of Jewish Philosophy of Religion......Page 52
Continuity, Centers, Influence, and Periods of Jewish Philosophy in the Middle Ages and the Modern Age......Page 58
The Beginning of Modern Philosophy of Religion, General and Jewish......Page 72
Asserting Freedom of Knowledge—of Self, and of World......Page 74
The Doctrine of Spinoza’s Ethics......Page 79
Spinoza’s Rebellion against Religion: Theological-Political Treatise......Page 85
Beginning of a New Dialogical Confrontation between Judaism and Christianity......Page 106
Leibnitz’s Monadology and Philosophy of Religion......Page 107
Moses Mendelssohn: Enlightenment, Common Sense, and Tolerance......Page 115
Mendelssohn’s Phaidon and Jerusalem......Page 117
Mendelssohn’s Disagreements with Spinoza and Lessing......Page 120
Mendelssohn on Religion and State in Judaism and Christianity......Page 128
Reason Addressing Religion’s Perennial Questions......Page 136
Religion Within the Limits of Reason......Page 147
Kant’s Critique of Judaism......Page 151
Hegel’s Ambition: Philosophy Embracing All......Page 154
Hegel’s Dialectical Epistemology: The Ascent of Consciousness......Page 156
The Progression of Consciousness in Individual and Cultural Development......Page 158
Hegel’s “Sublation” of Religion......Page 163
Hegel’s View of Judaism as “Negative Dialectic”......Page 165
Schelling, Philosopher of Romanticism......Page 172
The Early System: Art, Creation, and “Intellectual Intuition”......Page 177
Rational Ecstasy: Knowing the Mind of the Creator......Page 182
Myth and Schelling’s Religious Philosophy of History......Page 185
Schelling’s Appropriation of Kabbalah......Page 187
Celebrity of the Mendelssohn Enlightenment......Page 192
From Hasidic Village to the Streets of Western Culture......Page 195
Reciprocal Critique of Kant’s and Aristotle’s Epistemologies......Page 197
God as Postulate of Pure Reason......Page 208
A Skepticism Rooted in Maimonides and Kant......Page 212
Maimon’s Philosophy of Religion......Page 215
Maimon’s Philosophy of Judaism......Page 219
A Corrective to Kant (and revision of Mendelssohn)......Page 224
Ascher’s Leviathan: Redefining the Relationship of Religion and State......Page 230
“Regulative” and “Constitutive” Stages in Religion’s Evolution......Page 238
Regulative and Constitutive Elements in Judaism......Page 240
Ascher’s Program for Reform; His Credo......Page 244
Traditionalists Open to Enlightenment......Page 250
Wessely: The “Law of God” and “Law of Man”......Page 253
Schnaber: Enlisting Maimonides in Defense of Tradition......Page 260
Schnaber’s Foundation of the Torah: A Rational Reconstruction of Maimonidean Dogmatics......Page 265
Drawing on Kant and Halevi......Page 271
Modifying Maimonides’ Rubric: Philosophical Pragmatism and Practical Traditionalism......Page 279
A New Guide, Using Hegel’s Dialectic......Page 286
Spearheading the Galician Haskalah......Page 288
Krochmal’s Adaptation of Hegel’s Historiosophy for a Jewish Renaissance......Page 291
Philosophy of History for a Culture in Transition......Page 294
The Perplexity: Transition from Traditional to Modern Outlook......Page 296
Krochmal’s Pedagogical Strategy: Reformulating the Tradition in Modern Historical Terms......Page 305
Diagnosing the Spiritual Errors of the Age, and the Truth To Which They Point......Page 311
Affirming Spirit Within A Modern Naturalistic World View......Page 321
Development of Culture: Technology, Science, Morals, Art, Religion, Philosophy......Page 326
Monotheism, and the Unique Cyclical Pattern of Jewish Historical Development......Page 335
Glossary......Page 354
Bibliography......Page 356
Index......Page 362