The Cambridge Companion to Modern Jewish Philosophy

Modern Jewish philosophy emerged in the seventeenth century, with the impact of the new science and modern philosophy on thinkers who were reflecting upon the nature of Judaism and Jewish life. This collection of new essays examines the work of several of the most important of these figures, from the seventeenth to the late-twentieth centuries, and addresses themes central to the tradition of modern Jewish philosophy: language and revelation, autonomy and authority, the problem of evil, messianism, the influence of Kant, and feminism. Included are essays on Spinoza, Mendelssohn, Cohen, Buber, Rosenzweig, Fackenheim, Soloveitchik, Strauss, and Levinas. Other thinkers discussed include Maimon, Benjamin, Derrida, Scholem, and Arendt. The sixteen original essays are written by a world-renowned group of scholars especially for this volume and give a broad and rich picture of the tradition of modern Jewish philosophy over a period of four centuries.

1. Introduction: modern Jewish philosophy, modern philosophy, and modern Judaism Michael L. Morgan and Peter Eli Gordon; 2. Baruch Spinoza and the naturalization of Judaism Steven Nadler; 3. The liberalism of Moses Mendelssohn Allan Arkush; 4. Jewish philosophy after Kant: the legacy of Salomon Maimon Paul W. Franks; 5. Hermann Cohen: Judaism and critical idealism Andrea Poma; 6. Self, other, text, God: the dialogical thought of Martin Buber Tamara Wright; 7. Franz Rosenzweig and the philosophy of Jewish existence Peter Eli Gordon; 8. Leo Strauss and modern Jewish thought Steven B. Smith; 9. Messianism and modern Jewish philosophy Pierre Bouretz; 10. Ethics, authority, and autonomy Kenneth Seeskin; 11. Joseph Soloveitchik and Halakhic man Lawrence Kaplan; 12. Emmanuel Levinas: Judaism and the primacy of the ethical Richard A. Cohen; 13. Emil Fackenheim, the Holocaust, and philosophy Michael L. Morgan; 14. Evil, suffering, and the Holocaust Berel Lang; 15. Revelation, language, and commentary: from Buber to Derrida Leora Batnitzky; 16. Feminism and modern Jewish philosophy Tamar Rudavsky.

This collection of new essays by an internationally prominent group of scholars addresses themes central to the tradition of modern Jewish philosophy from the seventeenth through the twentieth centuries. Included are essays on Spinoza, Mendelssohn, Cohen, Buber, Rosenzweig, Fackenheim, Soloveitchik, Strauss, and Levinas.

Michael L. Morgan has been a professor at Indiana University for 31 years and, in 2004, was named a Chancellor's Professor. He has published articles in a variety of journals and has edited several books, including: Interim Judaism (2001), Beyond Auschwitz: Post-Holocaust Jewish Thought in America (2001), and Dilemmas in Modern Jewish Thought: The Dialectics of Revelation and History (1992).
Peter Eli Gordon has published widely on topics in both modern European intellectual history and modern Jewish thought. He is presently Professor of History at Harvard University and faculty affiliate at the Center for European Studies. His book, Rosenzweig and Heidegger, Between Judaism and German Philosophy (2003), received several distinguished awards.