Jewish Messianism and the History of Philosophy

Jewish Messianism and the History of Philosophy contests the ancient opposition between Athens and Jerusalem by retrieving the concept of meontology.

Martin Kavka (Author)

9780521831031, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 10 May 2004

256 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.55 kg

'Martin Kavka's Jewish Messianism and the History of Philosophy combines an extraordinary breadth and depth of scholarship with a degree of living thinking and ethical passion that is indeed rare and wonderful. It is framed as a love letter, an invitation to conversation, addressed to a friend, a Rabbi, and to us, his readers. It is an invitation that I take personally.' Kenneth Reinhard, Journal of the History of Philosophy

Jewish Messianism and the History of Philosophy contests the ancient opposition between Athens and Jerusalem by retrieving the concept of meontology - the doctrine of nonbeing - from the Jewish philosophical and theological tradition. For Emmanuel Levinas, as well as for Franz Rosenzweig, Hermann Cohen and Moses Maimonides, the Greek concept of nonbeing (understood as both lack and possibility) clarifies the meaning of Jewish life. These thinkers of 'Jerusalem' use 'Athens' for Jewish ends, justifying Jewish anticipation of a future messianic era as well as portraying the subjects intellectual and ethical acts as central in accomplishing redemption. This book envisions Jewish thought as an expression of the intimate relationship between Athens and Jerusalem. It also offers new readings of important figures in contemporary Continental philosophy, critiquing previous arguments about the role of lived religion in the thought of Jacques Derrida, the role of Plato in the thought of Emmanuel Levinas and the centrality of ethics in the thought of Franz Rosenzweig.

Introduction: From Athens to Jerusalem
1. The meontological conundrum: Emmanuel Levinas and Emil Fackenheim on the Athens-Jerusalem conflict
2. Beyond 'beyond being': nonbeing in Plato and Husserl
3. Nonbeing as not-yet-being: meontology in Maimonides and Hermann Cohen
4. Nonbeing ensouled, nonbeing embodied: Levinas versus Rosenzweig on the role of the other in messianic anticipation
Conclusion. Deepening the roots of the Jewish meontological tradition or contra the Derridian 'Messianic'
Works cited
Index.

Subject Areas: Judaism [HRJ], Philosophy of religion [HRAB], Western philosophy: Ancient, to c 500 [HPCA]