Jewish Philosophy in a Secular Age

By Kenneth Seeskin

Subjects: Jewish Studies, Philosophy, Jewish Philosophy
Paperback : 9780791401057, 256 pages, January 1990
Hardcover : 9780791401040, 256 pages, January 1990

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Table of contents

Preface

1. Introduction

2. The Positive Contribution of Negative Theology

3. Miracles and Creation

4. Revelation

5. Suspending the Ethical

6. Does Secular Moral Philosophy Rest on a Mistake?

7. Job and the Problem of Evil

8. Fackenheim's Dilemma

9. Universality and Particularity

Bibliography

Index

Description

Clearly written, historically sophisticated, Jewish Philosophy in a Secular Age presents a running dialogue between a rationalist understanding of religion and its many critics, ranging from Descartes and Hume to Kierkegaard, Buber, and Fackenheim. The author confronts such classical problems as divine attributes, creation, revelation, suspension of the ethical, ethics and secular philosophy, the problem of evil, and the importance of the Holocaust. On each issue, the author sets the terms of the debate and works toward a constructive resolution.

Kenneth Seeskin is Philip M. and Ethel Klutznick Professor of Jewish Civilization at Northwestern University. His books include Dialogue and Discovery: A Study in Socratic Method, also published by SUNY Press.

Reviews

"It addresses central questions in classic and current Jewish religious thought—analyzes them in an obviously erudite, unpretentious, even elegant manner, solidly derived from the classic texts of general and religious literature—and thus produces a constructive 'relevant' philosophical theology that is very likely to be of concern not only to Jewish thinkers but, as a paradigm, to any thoughtful person. " — Steven S. Schwarzchild, Washington University