tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4519695949645288674.post9016469407875716720..comments2012-02-22T06:44:21.775-08:00Comments on PHILOSOPHY OF JUDAISM: Developing a philosophy of Judaism: the fortunes of an enterpriseAaron Segal, Sam Lebens, Dani Rabinowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12072138513573624712noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4519695949645288674.post-60010151504243908212011-08-15T09:07:56.906-07:002011-08-15T09:07:56.906-07:00Yes Dani, it seems that you and I are poles apart ...Yes Dani, it seems that you and I are poles apart on a number of issues! But the fact that we are two analytic philosophers with interests in the philosophical analysis of the Jewish tradition still puts us on the same team!<br /><br />I agree that some of the work of Christian philosophers has been astounding, and of the highest quality. But I do think that issues of religious language have to Sam Lebenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11232919028270795728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4519695949645288674.post-52418102132491043202011-08-15T08:24:13.462-07:002011-08-15T08:24:13.462-07:00Professor Shatz,
Thanks for those references, they...Professor Shatz,<br />Thanks for those references, they will certainly provide a more fleshed out context to the issue under discussion. <br /><br />Sam,<br />You raise some very fundamental questions. The more we engage on different topics the more I realize how differently we think. I haven't given enough thought to religious language. But it strikes me that Christian philosophers have doneDani Rabinowitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02686037316872541259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4519695949645288674.post-56281719867957576762011-08-14T21:17:46.291-07:002011-08-14T21:17:46.291-07:00( This is responding to Dani. Sam, I hadn’t seen y...( This is responding to Dani. Sam, I hadn’t seen your comment when I wrote this one.) Yes-- the phenomenon goes back very far. A great way to get a historical handle is to read the historically-arranged essays by Professors Gerald Blidstein, David Berger, and Shnayer Leiman, and finally the general essay by Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, in Judaism's Encounter with Other Cultures: Rejection or David Shatzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01295056379701475812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4519695949645288674.post-49477758618762749192011-08-12T08:43:35.458-07:002011-08-12T08:43:35.458-07:00Dani, I think we have to be careful with compariso...Dani, I think we have to be careful with comparisons to Christian philosophy for two reasons, though I'm keen to hear Professor Shatz's opinion on this.<br /><br />Christian philosophy is more advanced in that it is more common for great contemporary Christians to be accomplished philosophers and for great philosophers to be Christian. But, there's a sense in which their achievements Sam Lebensnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4519695949645288674.post-54280428903969130372011-08-10T07:16:56.948-07:002011-08-10T07:16:56.948-07:00Professor Shatz, I would be most interested to hea...Professor Shatz, I would be most interested to hear what factors have, in your opinion,for the shunning of philosophy by the religious communities. It is my impression that this disdain for philosophy is not merely a phenomenon related to modern-day chareidi and chassidic communities; its roots seem to go much deeper and further back in time. If I recall correctly, we find, for example, Rashba Dani Rabinowitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02686037316872541259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4519695949645288674.post-19387817893943253422011-08-09T02:25:48.434-07:002011-08-09T02:25:48.434-07:00Professor Shatz
Thank you for these insightful an...Professor Shatz<br /><br />Thank you for these insightful and encouraging comments. You have certainly brought into play factors of which I was unaware. Your historical perspective provides much hope for the enterprise undertaken here. I look forward to your contributions to the discussions on this site in the future. <br /><br />DaniDani Rabinowitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02686037316872541259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4519695949645288674.post-14122069709848109412011-08-03T22:42:34.119-07:002011-08-03T22:42:34.119-07:00CONT. POSTED ON BEHALF OF DAVID SHATZ:
Fifth, cre...CONT. POSTED ON BEHALF OF DAVID SHATZ:<br /><br />Fifth, credit groups and institutions. Hilary Putnam was a regular at annual philosophy conferences of the Hartman Institute, and the list of other prominent philosophers who are at those conferences is simply unreal. (Funny how that word is an insult in philosophy but a huge compliment in the wider culture.) Putnam is one of the most famous Aaron Segalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06245608631080094522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4519695949645288674.post-87518845234421958362011-08-03T22:36:40.056-07:002011-08-03T22:36:40.056-07:00CONT. POSTED ON BEHALF OF DAVID SHATZ:
A second ...CONT. POSTED ON BEHALF OF DAVID SHATZ: <br /><br />A second factor is the influence of Christian philosophers (Alvin Plantinga, for starters) who have made philosophy of religion highly respectable. Relatedly, we may be profiting from an ecumenical spirit in the culture. Already fifteen years ago Faith and Philosophy—published by the Society for Christian Philosophers!—published a special issueAaron Segalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06245608631080094522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4519695949645288674.post-31627918877234463842011-08-03T22:18:13.196-07:002011-08-03T22:18:13.196-07:00POSTED ON BEHALF OF DAVID SHATZ:
Because this com...POSTED ON BEHALF OF DAVID SHATZ:<br /><br />Because this comment is long I’ll divide it into two parts.<br />The late Rabbi Walter Wurzburger joked that some Jews stay away from philosophy because they misread a verse. The Torah says, “mekhashefah lo tehayyeh” (Shemot 22:17). They read the pasuk, though, as “mahashavah lo tehayyeh.”<br />In arguing that things are now more sanguine, Ben I Aaron Segalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06245608631080094522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4519695949645288674.post-48695568196545761172011-08-02T14:47:11.793-07:002011-08-02T14:47:11.793-07:00Sam, I think you are right, at least for the momen...Sam, I think you are right, at least for the moment.<br /><br />R Soloveitchik so dominated Modern Orthodox intellectual and religious life that all areas he touched, including philosophy, lomdus and communal policy, are very much in his shadow. Debate is circumscribed by the boundaries he created. If we look at communal policy, for example, every innovation is either defended or attacked throughBen Eltonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4519695949645288674.post-86534102581264721082011-08-02T12:35:00.403-07:002011-08-02T12:35:00.403-07:00Wonderful blog Ben. I accept that wiesenshaft neve...Wonderful blog Ben. I accept that wiesenshaft never really took off in religious circles in the way that some Berliners once hoped, but the project still seems, though largely outside of religious orthodoxy, to be a going concern - albeit, one that doesn't interest me all that much!<br /><br />But a question I'd like people to think about is this: there is no doubt that R. Soloveitchik Sam Lebenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11232919028270795728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4519695949645288674.post-39396062091496973072011-08-02T11:35:18.154-07:002011-08-02T11:35:18.154-07:00Benjamin writes, "...the Jewish philosophical...Benjamin writes, "...the Jewish philosophical moment has returned."<br /><br />A very welcomed era. At what point does the use of general labels,<br />such as Western culture, become a disadvantage to advancing<br />the philosophy of Judaism (POJ)? For example, Western culture is not<br />considered monolithic but entails many areas which overlap with other<br />cultures, such as Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com