David Shatz: Torah, Philosophy, and Culture

David Shatz: Torah, Philosophy, and Culture
Author: Hava Tirosh-Samuelson
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 278
Release: 2016-11-21
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9004326480

David Shatz is the Ronald P. Stanton University Professor of Philosophy, Ethics, and Religious Thought at Yeshiva University. With rabbinic ordination earned at Yeshiva University and a Ph.D. with distinction in philosophy from Columbia University, Shatz is committed to integrating Judaism and secular wisdom. An analytic philosopher as well as a Jewish philosopher, he has written extensively on free will, ethics, epistemology, medieval and modern Jewish philosophy, and philosophy of religion. His writings cover such topics as autonomy, altruism, philosophical skepticism, science and Judaism, peer review, theodicy, biblical interpretation, Maimonides, modern rabbinic figures, messianism, fanaticism, religious diversity, and theology. Shatz is also editor of the MeOtzar HoRav series, which publishes manuscripts of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, and is editor of the Torah u-Madda Journal.

The Future of Jewish Philosophy

The Future of Jewish Philosophy
Author: Hava Tirosh-Samuelson
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2018-08-13
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 900438121X

This anthology of original essays reflects on the future of Jewish philosophy in light of the Library of Contemporary Jewish Philosophers (Brill, 2013-2018). The volume assesses the strengths of Jewish philosophy, explores the place of Jewish philosophy within the Western academy as a critique of and contribution to the discipline of philosophy, and showcases the relevance of Jewish philosophy to contemporary Jewish culture. The volume argues that Jewish philosophy is more vibrant, diverse, and culturally significant than its public image implies. Special attention is paid to the interdisciplinary nature of Jewish philosophy, the institutional settings for generating Jewish philosophy, and the contribution of philosophizing to contemporary Jewish self-understanding.

Jewish Thought in Dialogue

Jewish Thought in Dialogue
Author: David Shatz
Publisher:
Total Pages: 442
Release: 2009
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781934843420

The essays collected in this volume present carefully crafted and often creative interpretations of major Jewish texts and thinkers, as well as original treatments of significant issues in Jewish theology and ethics. Conversant with both Jewish philosophy and the methods and literature of analytic philosophy, the author frequently seeks to bring them into dialogue, and in addition taps the philosophical dimensions of Jewish law.. The book opens with a philosophical analysis of biblical narratives. It then investigates the relationship between Judaism and general culture as conceived by Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook and Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, followed by interpretations of Maimonides' moral theory and his views on human perfection. The remainder of the volume examines both critically and constructively the relationship between religious anthropology and theories of providence; the problem of evil; the challenges that neuroscience poses to religion; law and morality in Judaism; theological dimensions of 9/11; the limits of altruism; concepts of autonomy in Jewish medical ethics; and the epistemology of religious belief.

Self-Transcendence and Virtue

Self-Transcendence and Virtue
Author: Jennifer A. Frey
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2018-11-06
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0429891164

Recent research in the humanities and social sciences suggests that individuals who understand themselves as belonging to something greater than the self—a family, community, or religious or spiritual group—often feel happier, have a deeper sense of purpose or meaning in their lives, and have overall better life outcomes than those who do not. Some positive and personality psychologists have labeled this location of the self within a broader perspective "self-transcendence." This book presents and integrates new, interdisciplinary research into virtue, happiness, and the meaning of life by re-orienting these discussions around the concept of self-transcendence. The essays are organized around three broad themes connected to self-transcendence. First, they investigate how self-transcendence helps us to understand aspects of the moral life as it is studied within psychology, including the development of wisdom, the practice of moral praise, and psychological well-being. Second, they explore how self-transcendence is linked to virtue in different religious and spiritual traditions including Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Finally, they ask how self-transcendence can help us theorize about Aristotelean and Thomist conceptions of virtue, like hope and piety, and how this helps us to re-conceptualize happiness and meaning in life.

Ethical Ambiguity in the Hebrew Bible

Ethical Ambiguity in the Hebrew Bible
Author: Shira Weiss
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2018-09-06
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1108695477

In this book, Shira Weiss elucidates the moral tradition of the Hebrew Bible by subjecting ethically challenging biblical texts to moral philosophical analysis. Examining the most essential questions of Jewish Thought, she uses contemporary philosophy to decipher Scriptural ethics as uncovered from a variety of biblical stories. Aided by ancient, medieval, and contemporary resources, Weiss presents a comprehensive discussion of enduring ethical questions that arise from biblical narrative and continue to be contested in modern times. She shows how such analysis can unsettle assumptions and beliefs, as well as foster moral reflection. Ethical Ambiguity in the Hebrew Bible will be of interest to scholars and students of ethics, philosophy, Jewish thought, biblical theology, and exegesis.

Towards the Mystical Experience of Modernity

Towards the Mystical Experience of Modernity
Author: Yehudah Mirsky
Publisher: Academic Studies PRess
Total Pages: 656
Release: 2021-08-10
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1644695308

Avraham Yitzhaq Ha-Cohen Kook (1865-1935) stands as a colossal figure of modern Jewish history and thought. Jurist, mystic, poet, theologian, communal leader, founder of the modern Chief Rabbinate and still the defining thinker of Religious Zionism, he is indispensable for understanding modern Jewish thought, the contemporary State of Israel, and the most fundamental interactions of religion, nationalism, ethics and spirituality. Despite countless studies of him, almost no full-fledged intellectual biography of him exists in any language. This study of the years before his momentous move to Jaffa in 1904, drawing on little-known works, including recently published manuscripts, begins to fill that gap. It traces his life and times in the remarkably intense Rabbinic intellectual milieu of late nineteenth-century Eastern Europe, and his path from a profound, regularly rationalist traditionalism, towards a dynamic theology and spiritual practice weaving together Kabbalah, philosophy, universal ethics, and romantic mysticism.

The Cambridge Guide to Jewish History, Religion, and Culture

The Cambridge Guide to Jewish History, Religion, and Culture
Author: Judith R. Baskin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 559
Release: 2010-07-12
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0521869609

This book provides a comprehensive and accessible overview of the Jewish experience, from its ancient origins to its impact on contemporary popular culture.

חזון נחום

חזון נחום
Author: Yaakov Elman
Publisher: KTAV Publishing House, Inc.
Total Pages: 866
Release: 1997
Genre: Bible
ISBN: 9780881255997

Maimonides’s Yahweh

Maimonides’s Yahweh
Author: Amy Karen Downey
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 215
Release: 2019-03-20
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1532673396

The life of Moshe ben Maimon (Maimonides) remains a mystery to many within evangelical Christianity. However, he is lauded as a second Moses by many within modern Judaism. Does he deserve that title? Maimonides's via negativa created a rationale for rejecting the messiahship claims of Jesus in Rabbinic Judaism. Therefore, this book seeks to illustrate that Maimonides, in his desire to create an anti-Christian apologetic regarding the incarnation, fashioned a Judaism that does not reflect the truths of the Tanakh (Old Testament) and developed a Judaism that was untenable for the Jewish people of the twenty-first century. Many Jewish people today are turning in a thousand and one different directions for spiritual answers, but not in the only way that will offer the way to God: Jesus of Nazareth (John 14:6). This work examines the history of Maimonides, his teachings, and an apologetic approach to bring the gospel back to the Jewish people (Rom 1:16).

The Philosophy of Joseph B. Soloveitchik

The Philosophy of Joseph B. Soloveitchik
Author: Heshey Zelcer
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 294
Release: 2021-03-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000368777

Providing a concise but comprehensive overview of Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s larger philosophical program, this book studies one of the most important modern Orthodox Jewish thinkers. It incorporates much relevant biographical, philosophical, religious, legal, and historical background so that the content and difficult philosophical concepts are easily accessible. The volume describes his view of Jewish law (Halakhah) and how he takes the view to answer the fundamental question of Jewish philosophy, the question of the "reasons" for the commandments. It shows how numerous of his disparate books, essays, and lectures on law, specific commandments, and Jewish religious phenomenology, can be woven together to form an elegant philosophical program. It also provides an analysis and summary of Soloveitchik’s views on Zionism and on interreligious dialogue and the contexts for Soloveitchik’s respective stances on two issues that were pressing in his role as a leader of a major branch of post-war Orthodox Judaism. The book provides a synoptic overview of the philosophical works of Joseph B. Soloveitchik. It will be of interest to historians and scholars studying neo-Kantian philosophy, Jewish thought and philosophy of religion.