JEWISH TRADITION AND PHILOSOPHY IN THE 20TH CENTURY
JEWISH TRADITION AND PHILOSOPHY IN THE 20TH CENTURY

Summary/Abstract: At the turn of the century, in Europe, within a difficult landscape made up of different trends, a stimulating, creative and original Jewish culture flourished. In this culture, the traits of a particular – eminently Jewish – philosophy developed. It was not a Jewish philosophy because it was based on the creativity of Jewish thinkers, but rather, because it was rooted in the conceptual foundations of the Jewish tradition and it did not hide its intention to use its concepts to redefine the main features of Jewish identity. The paper thus follows the manner in which philosophers like Cohen and Rosenzweig attempted to bridge the gap between Western philosophy as it had developed in nineteenth-century Europe, especially in Germany, and Jewish thought, which they revived and reassessed, but also the radical as well as irreversible separation between philosophy and Jewish ‘New Thinking’ occurred after the Second World War and, above all, the Shoah, which decidedly challenged the critical abilities of mankind, with special focus on ethics, as reflected in the works of Levinas.

• Details
• Contents