Books
Hedwig Conrad-Martius - The Phenomenological Gateway to Reality, 2nd edition (Springer 2023), 2023
The Second Edition includes a new chapter (chapter 7) that has not been previously published.
... more The Second Edition includes a new chapter (chapter 7) that has not been previously published.
7. The Phenomenology of the Nothing: The Hidden Dialogue with
Heidegger—A New Chapter Added to the Second Edition
This chapter, composed especially for the second edition and not previously
published, addresses HCM’s ontological perspective on the Nothing, while
consulting Heidegger’s perception of the same that is bound with his idea
of the inception (Anfang) of Being. Based on the analysis of the thinking of
the two contemporaries, the chapter proposes an outline of a phenomenology
of the Nothing in three steps: first, I present the point of departure rooted
in a fundamental ontological difference; second, I establish the precedence
of the Nothing over real existence; finally, I discuss the fundamental bond
between Nothing and Being. These steps join to form one metaphysical argument: Nothing precedes Being, which is maintained throughout, and thereby
forms the essential finitude of reality.
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This book focuses on the unique philosophical relationship between Hedwig Conrad-Martius and Edit... more This book focuses on the unique philosophical relationship between Hedwig Conrad-Martius and Edith Stein. The two phenomenologists discussed and debated insights and ideas about the nature of the soul, phenomenology, personhood and individuality, animal life, nature, being, and God. This book brings together for the first time leading international scholars of phenomenology to explore the philosophical exchange between both Conrad-Martius and Stein. This is an important book for understanding the development of the phenomenological movement and key phenomenological ideas and methods. It provides a critical and comprehensive overview of the key issues that helped frame both phenomenologists' philosophical trajectories. Additionally, the ideas of Conrad-Martius and Stein are mined to address contemporary questions surrounding such topics as personal identity, animal versus human personhood, contemporary atheism, and the relationship between religion and science. The book will have great appeal to phenomenologists, philosophers, and historians of philosophy.
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This volume, the first of its kind written in English, interprets the realistic-phenomenological... more This volume, the first of its kind written in English, interprets the realistic-phenomenological philosophy of Hedwig Conrad-Martius (1888-1966). She was a prominent figure in the Munich-Göttingen Circle, the first generation of phenomenology after Edmund Husserl (1859-1938), and was known as the “first lady of German philosophy”. The articles included in this collection deal with the two main themes constituting her realistic-metaphysical phenomenology: Being and the I. In addition, the collection includes a comprehensive Preface that describes the personal background and the social and philosophical contexts behind Conrad-Martius’s thought, with an emphasis on the mutual influence and fertilization of the group of early phenomenologists in the Munich-Göttingen Circle. The book will be of interest to scholars of philosophy and educated readers.
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Husserl and Other Phenomenologists , Jul 16, 2017
The book Husserl and Other Phenomenologists addresses a fundamental question: what is it in the t... more The book Husserl and Other Phenomenologists addresses a fundamental question: what is it in the thinking of the founding father of phenomenology, Edmund Husserl (1959-1938), that on the one hand enables the huge variety in the phenomenological discourse and, at the same time, necessitates relying on his phenomenology as a point of departure and an object before which philosophizing is conducted. The various contributors, each with his or her own focus on a specific figure in the phenomenological school vis-à-vis the Husserl's thinking, demonstrate that every reference to Husserl is necessarily bound up with modifying his ideas and crossing the boundaries of his phenomenology. In this sense, and given the insight that Husserlian phenomenology is already imbued with the potential modifications and revisions, the post-Husserlian phenomenologies may be included together with Husserl in one so-called "Phenomenological Movement". The entirety of the discussions in the book open for philosophers and intellectuals a window upon phenomenology, which has been one of the richest and most influential cultural phenomena, from its very appearance at the beginning of the twentieth century until our time. Also, the book displays the complex interpretive dynamic within which a given framework of ideas becomes a sort of magnetic field, with attracting and repelling forces acting on its participants, and thanks to which the great ideas of modernity maintain their vitality and relevance a hundred years after their first appearance.
available also in paperback format (2019):
https://www.routledge.com/Husserl-and-Other-Phenomenologists-1st-Edition/Miron/p/book/9780367220389
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What is the desire for metaphysics? Is it like all desires, possessing the typical intentional st... more What is the desire for metaphysics? Is it like all desires, possessing the typical intentional structure of a subject directing at an object and thus exceeding his own boundaries? A positive answer to this question would lead to a tautology, since both the desire and the metaphysics denote the person’s going beyond himself. This collection is founded upon the argument that the desire for metaphysics is greater than any other human desire, due to the nature of metaphysics itself, thanks to which it cannot simply be considered as an object like all other objects. Metaphysics is not just a worldview regarding the things that exist in the world, human nature, the essence of human consciousness, and so on. The metaphysics to which human desire is directed denotes the evident and all-embracing consciousness regarding the existence of an abstract and profound level in the world of existing things that is simultaneously responsible for their formation and for the fact that they can never be exhausted by their manifestations. The described desire for metaphysics, as the ultimate impetus of philosophical engagement, is present in the depth of each of the articles in this collection. Yet the variance apparent in the articles of this collection reveals a fundamental point regarding metaphysics: due to its holistic nature, it can never be exhausted in particular contents, and is still always revealed in the commitment to the particular experience in which it appears.
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THE ANGEL OF JEWISH HISTORY – RONNY MIRON
Abstract
The Angel of Jewish History deals with t... more THE ANGEL OF JEWISH HISTORY – RONNY MIRON
Abstract
The Angel of Jewish History deals with the relation between the traditional Jewish past and the present, one of the key questions in Jewish intellectual thought from the time of Wissenschaft des Judentums (חכמת ישראל) to the present day. The question is examined through the work of intellectuals known as having a shaping influence on Jewish Studies in Israel and abroad: Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, Amos Funkenstein, Gershom Scholem, Baruch Kurzweill, and Nathan Rotenstreich. These five shaped a stormy discourse that directly confronts the binary problem typical of the relation between past and present, secularization and religion, tradition and history, and so on. The book examines the positions of the mentioned intellectuals through two main paradigms: the break paradigm represented by Yerushalmi, and the continuity paradigm represented by Funkenstein. These two paradigms sketch the binary field in a dialectical way that enables the reexamination of the five's intellectual achievements.
The book's main argument is that each of the five's work is based on a metaphysical world view, which on the one hand served them as an anchor and starting point, and on the other hand was constantly fed by their achievements. The term "world view" in this context denotes the focus on the personal, although not the biographical or psychological, dimension of the figure as creating an original interpretative endeavor. The book's main purpose is to extricate the metaphysical world view from the writings of the five thinkers, and to explicate it using philosophical tools. The discussion is focused on the philosophical aspects of the five's work, formed around shared issues concerning the nature of modern Judaism and the processes of its formation, mainly Wissenschaft des Judentums and historicism; the images of the past and Jewish tradition; secularization and the status of God in the present-day Jewish reality.
One of the book's important innovations is illuminating the dominance of the binary framework in shaping the world view of the five persons discussed. The power of this binary framework is apparent both in the thinkers who adopted it (Yerushalmi and Funkenstein) and in the attempts of others to dispute it and propose an alternative (Scholem, Kurzweill, and Rotenstreich). Tracing the complex permeation of this framework into the world view of the five allows them to be characterized as constituting a type of intellectual field within which forces of attraction and repelling operate on its participants, who complement or contradict each other, or both at once.
Another of the book's innovations is applying two classical and general philosophical methods – phenomenological and hermeneutical – to a subject from the realm of Jewish Studies that has so far usually been studied by historians or from a historical angle. Even the few philosophy scholars who have discussed some of the figures did not propose a systematic philosophical observation of the world view of their work, such as the one this book offers. Each of the methods makes a unique contribution to the book's discussion: the phenomenological method helps explicate the relations between the immanence and the transcendence (God) that provide the encompassing philosophical context within which the discussion takes place. The phenomenological reading also offers a reflection about the relations between consciousness and its objects, and in this context, between the historian, critic, and philosopher and the objects of their creation – the past or tradition, the literary work, and the philosophical concepts. The hermeneutic method focuses on analyzing the contents and basic perceptions appearing in the texts themselves and clarifying their relations to the assumptions of abstract thought structures that were extricated using the phenomenological reading. These two methods complement each other and together achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the five's world views as expressed in their works, from the premises in which each was anchored up to the positive approaches formulated around the issues mentioned.
This book is intended for anyone concerned about the relation between the Jewish past and the present. Such a reader may be a professional from the fields of philosophy, history, sociology, Hebrew literature, and the study of Jewish culture. The book also appeals to intellectuals and scholars touched by the question of break and continuity in Jewish existence. Advanced students in the mentioned areas may benefit from the book in two respects: systematic, meaning a deep acquaintance with thinkers and thought regarding the book's discussed questions; and methodical, being exposed to the phenomenological and hermeneutical tools as mechanisms of textual interpretation.
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'מלאך ההיסטוריה היהודית' עוסק בשאלת היחס בין העבר היהודי המסורתי לבין ההווה; אחת משאלות המפתח במח... more 'מלאך ההיסטוריה היהודית' עוסק בשאלת היחס בין העבר היהודי המסורתי לבין ההווה; אחת משאלות המפתח במחשבה האינטלקטואלית היהודית מאז 'חכמת ישראל' ועד לימינו. השאלה נבחנת מבעד למפעלם של אינטלקטואלים שנודעו כבעלי השפעה מעצבת על מדעי היהדות בישראל ובתפוצות: יוסף חיים ירושלמי, עמוס פונקנשטיין, גרשם שלום, ברוך קורצווייל ונתן רוטנשטרייך. החמישה עיצבו שדה השיח מסעיר שהתעמת ישירות בעיית הבינריות שאופיינית ליחס שבין עבר להווה, בין חילון ודת, בין מסורת להיסטוריה וכיוב'. הספר בוחן את השקפותיהם של האינטלקטואלים המוזכרים מבעד לשתי פרדיגמות עיקריות: פרדיגמת הקרע מיוצגת על ידי ירושלמי ופרדיגמת הרצף על ידי פונקנשטיין. שתי פרדיגמות מתוחות אלו משרטטות את השדה הבינרי בצורה דיאלקטית המאפשרת לבחון מחדש את מפעלם האינטלקטואלי של החמישה.
הטענה העיקרית של הספר היא שביסוד מפעלם של כל אחד מהחמישה עמדה השקפת עולם מטאפיזית, שמצד אחד שמשה עבורם עוגן ונקודת מוצא ומצד שני הוזנה בהתמדה על-ידי הישגיו. המונח 'השקפת העולם' מציין בהקשר זה את המיקוד בממד האישי, אם כי לא הביוגרפי או הפסיכולוגי, של הדמות כיוצרת של מפעל פרשני מקורי. מטרתו המרכזית של הספר היא לחלץ את השקפת העולם המטאפיזית מתוך כתביהם של חמשת האישים שהספר מוקדש למפעלם ולהנהירה בכלים פילוסופיים. הדיון ממוקד בהיבטים ההגותיים הגלומים במפעלם של החמישה שהתגבש סביב סוגיות משותפות הנוגעות לטיבה של היהדות המודרנית ולתהליכי התגבשותה, שבמרכזן: 'חכמת ישראל' וההיסטוריציזם, דמותם של העבר ושל המסורת היהודית, החילון ומעמדו של אלוהים במציאות היהודית שבהווה.
אחד החידושים החשובים של הספר עניינו בהארת הדומיננטיות של המסגרת הבינרית בעיצוב השקפות עולמם של חמשת האישים הנדונים בו. עוצמתה של המסגרת הבינרית ניכרת הן אצל ההוגים שאימצו אותה (ירושלמי ופונקנשטיין) והן בניסיונות של אחרים לערער עליה ולהציע לה חלופה (שלום, קורצווייל ורוטנשטרייך). המעקב אחרי חילחולה המורכב של מסגרת זו להשקפת עולמם של חמשת מאפשר לאפיין אותם כמכוננים מעין 'שדה אינטלקטואלי' שכוחות של משיכה ודחייה פועלים על משתתפיו השרויים ביחסי השלמה, ניגוד או שניהם גם יחד.
חידוש נוסף של הספר הוא בהפניה של שתי מתודות פילוסופיות קלאסיות וכלליות – פנומנולוגית והרמנויטית – לנושא מתחומם של מדעי היהדות שעד כה טופל לרוב על ידי היסטוריונים או מזווית היסטורית. אפילו מיעוטם של חוקרי הגות שנדרשו לחלק מאישים הנדונים בספר, לא הציעו התבוננות פילוסופית שיטתית על השקפת העולם המשוקעת במפעלם כמו זו המוצעת בספר. לכל אחת מהמתודות תרומה ייחודית לדיון בספר: המתודה הפנומנולוגית מסייעת בהנהרה של היחסים בין האימננטיות לבין הטרנסצנדנציה (אלוהים) המעניקים את המסגרת הפילוסופית המקיפה שבתוכה מתנהל הדיון בספר. כמו כן הקריאה הפנומנולוגית מציעה רפלקסיה ייחודית על אודות היחסים בין התודעה לבין מושאיה, ובהקשר שלפנינו בין ההיסטוריון, המבקר והפילוסוף לבין מושאי היצירה שלהם – העבר או המסורת, היצירה הספרותית והמושגים הפילוסופיים. המתודה ההרמנויטית ממוקדת בניתוח התכנים ותפיסות היסוד המופיעים בטקסטים עצמם ובבירור יחסיהם להנחות לתשתיות המחשבה המופשטות שחולצו באמצעות הקריאה הפנומנולוגית. שתי המתודות מצטרפות זו לזו ומסייעות יחד להשגת הבנה מקיפה של השקפת עולמם כפי שמצאה את ביטויה ביצירותיהם של החמישה, למן הנחות היסוד שכל אחת הייתה מעוגנת בה ועד לתפיסות הפוזיטיביות שהתגבשו בה סביב הסוגיות המוזכרות.
הספר מיועד לכל מי ששאלת היחסים שבין העבר היהודי לבין ההווה מטרידים אותו. קורא זה עשוי להיות איש מקצוע מתחומי הפילוסופיה, ההיסטוריה, הסוציולוגיה, הספרות העברית וחקר התרבות היהודית. כמו כן, הספר פונה אל אינטלקטואלים ואל משכילים ששאלת הקרע ורציפות בקיום היהודי נוגעת לליבם. לסטודנטים מהתחומים המוזכרים שכבר הלכו בהם כברת דרך הספר עשוי לתרום בשני היבטים: האחד שיטתי, היינו היכרות מעמיקה עם הוגים והגות שעסקו בשאלות הנדונות בספר. השני, מתודי ועניינו בחשיפה לכלי העבודה הפנומנולוגיים וההרמנויטיים כמנגנוני פרשנות טקסטואליים.
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The foundations of metaphysical consciousness, as it is developed in the thought of Karl Jaspers,... more The foundations of metaphysical consciousness, as it is developed in the thought of Karl Jaspers, is to be found in the human search for meaning in life and in existence [Dasein]. This search is rooted in the experience of dissatisfaction with existing reality and in an intuition which indicates that a being exists beyond the immediate reality in which human beings live and operate. These two foundational elements, which characterize the philosopher, serve as the fundamental meaning of the metaphysical in Jaspers’ thought. The metaphysical is in itself the philosophical striving to expose the roots of this experience of dissatisfaction, and reflects the human stance in the face of the possibility of a transcendent entity whose limits are beyond those of human existence. Consequently, the search for a meaning to existence reflects two facets of Jaspers’ thought, as they have been explicated by research: on the one hand, the acceptance of the Kantian ethos, according to which human beings act as autonomous agents, creating the reality in which they live through an act of consciousness; and at the same time, a revolt against Kant’s dictum that human consciousness has no access to the “thing in itself”.
Metaphysical consciousness, the explication of which is the focus of this study, is presented as based upon two fundamental drives which run through Jaspers’ philosophy: the drive to elucidate selfhood and the drive to obtain an explication of Being. Jaspers contends with these drives in a work written during two periods of his life upon which this study will focus: the “medical-psychological period” (1910-1919), and the “philosophical period” (1932-1947).
The development of Jaspers’ thought is examined in this study from two perspectives – the genealogical and the thematic. The genealogical approach, which examines the order in which his ideas emerged and the influence of earlier on later ideas, serves to explicate and to reflect the developmental dynamics of Jaspers’ work. In addition to the genealogical approach, a number of central topics are examined from a thematic perspective, which seeks to distill Jaspers’ central claims with regard to those issues which the study considers central to the process of establishing metaphysical consciousness.
Structure
The study opens with a preface, which presents the framework for Jaspers’ philosophizing and the double method that is implemented in the suggested interpretation to it. This chapter is followed by three sections, comprising eleven chapters: The first section (chapters 1 through 4) focuses on an explication of selfhood and discusses all of the writings from Jaspers’ first period, and some of those from his second period. In addition to elucidating the evolution of the concepts of “self” [Selbst], the “soul” [Seelische] and “subjectivity” [Subjektivität] in Jaspers’ thought, this section also examines the expansion of his philosophizing framework – from the psycho-pathological departure point of his early writings, to the broader philosophical perspective in which he established the being of “existence” [Existenz]. My principal claim in this section is that the philosophical effort to obtain an explication of selfhood is guided by the solipsistic image of selfhood. A growing awareness of the existence of this image can be noted, however, beginning with Jaspers’ philosophical works, and this awareness is accompanied by an effort to contend with its implications for metaphysical consciousness.
The second section, which includes an introductory methodological chapter, three substantive chapters ( 5-7) and a closing chapter, examines what I have termed “transition mechanisms”. This section discusses three central philosophical ideas – “communication”, “historicity” and “ultimate situations”. These ideas are presented as central tools with which Jaspers extricated his concept of selfhood from solipsism, and which consequently led to the establishment of a philosophical axis designed to explicate being.
The third section (Chapters 8 through 11) focuses on an explication of being, and is based in its entirety on writings from Jaspers’ philosophical period. It was in this period that the concepts of “Being” [Sein] and “Transcendence” [Transzendenz] were made the focal points of his philosophical discourse. Consequently, although the initial impetus for discussing the question of “Being” and for seeking “Transcendence” was to be found in “existence”, this latter concept was demoted from the focal point of Jaspers’ philosophical discourse, since he no longer considered it to be a primary criterion for examining the questions with which he was concerned.
This study seeks to elucidate Jaspers’ vast opus, primarily from within itself and through an examination of the complex relations between its disparate parts. The decision to conduct a phenomonological explication of a philosophical text mandates that the texts themselves be the focus of the study as well as its primary sources. The study’s primary purpose is to shed light upon the many faces of Jaspers’ thought and on its dynamic nature. This is done by following the thought processes of Jaspers himself, without discussing external justifications or proposing critical judgement of the validity of his claims. I have consequently avoided discussing questions pertaining to the influences on Jaspers’ thought, or examining similarities and differences between him and other thinkers, or the historical context in which his works were produced. This having been said, discussion of Jaspers’ work cannot take place in a vacuum, or in disregard to the vast body of scholarly literature that has previously focused on his thought. The interpretations and understandings which previous studies have offered of Jaspers’ work have served in the present study as tools to shed light on various aspects of his thought and on the ways in which it was received. I have therefore avoided debating the varied interpretations that have been offered, attempting instead, to the extent possible, to incorporate them into an original interpretation of Jaspers’ philosophy.
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הספר קרל יאספרס: מהחיפוש אחר העצמיות אל הטרנסצנדנציה , מציע ניתוח פנומנולוגי ביקורתי ליצירתו העש... more הספר קרל יאספרס: מהחיפוש אחר העצמיות אל הטרנסצנדנציה , מציע ניתוח פנומנולוגי ביקורתי ליצירתו העשירה והמגוונת של הפילוסוף קרל יאספרס (1883-1969), מראשית דרכו כפסיכיאטר, דרך תפיסתו האקזיסטנציאליסטית ועד לפילוסופיית ההוויה שלו. בספר מיושמת מתודולוגיית המחקר כפולה: האחת עוקבת אחר ההתפתחות הגנאולוגית של מחשבתו של יאספרס, בהתאם לסדר הכרונולוגי שבו הופיעו כתביו. השניה מעוגנת בפרספקטיבה תימטית שבאמצעותה מזוהים שני הצירים היסודיים שסביבם התגבשה יצירתו של יאספרס: העצמיות וההוויה. בעוד הפרספקטיבה ההתפתחותית חושפת את השינויים היסודיים שהובילו את יאספרס מהעניין המקורי בפתולוגיה הנפשית לעיסוק פילוסופי בהוויה ובטרנסצנדנציה, נקודת המבט התימטית מצביעה על היסודות המתמידים המכוננים את הגתו של יאספרס למכלול אחד שבו משולבים ללא הפרד המאמץ האנושי להשגת משמעות והבנה עצמית עם החיפוש אחר ההוויה והטרנסצנדנציה כמרחב וכאופק של החיפוש האקזיסטנציאלי.
הפרשנות המוצעת בספר מתנהלת תוך דיאלוג עם המחקר הקיים על יצירתו של יאספרס. למעשה הקריאות הנוספות על יאספרס מתפקדות כחלק בלתי נפרד מיצירתו. לפיכך, לצד הביקורת על הפרשנויות הקיימת, חותר הספר המוצע להיבנות מהן כדי לחשוף את האתגרים שהציבה הגותו של יאספרס בפני קוראיה. מפרספקטיבה זו, מתגלה יצירתו של יאספרס כאחד הניסיונות הנועזים לגבש תפיסה מקורית אודות שתי התמות היסודיות – העצמיות וההוויה – שהעסיקו את הפילוסופיה ואת התרבות האנושית בכל הזמנים.
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Edited Special Issues in Refereed Journals
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The New Yearbook for Phenomenology and Phenomenological Philosophy , 2023
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This article unveils and studies the fundamental affinities between the
hermeneutics of modern... more This article unveils and studies the fundamental affinities between the
hermeneutics of modern Hebrew literature of Baruch Kurzweil (1907-1972)
and the metaphysics of the German existentialist Karl Jaspers (1883-1969), in
particular his doctrine of 'Ciphers of Transcendence' (Chiffren der
Transzendenz.). Both thinkers shared fundamental evidence regarding the
existence of transcendence, whose complex modes of presence in the human
world require interpretation. Against this background, they devoted their
studies to the scrutiny of the signs of transcendent presence within
immanence and to the analysis of the alternating dynamic of discovery-
concealment - typical of this presence. The discussion in the article exposes
three focal aspects of the hidden dialogue between Kurzweil's hermeneutics
of modern Hebrew literature and Jaspers' doctrine of ciphers of
transcendence: the distancing from the 'I', 'Immanent transcendence', and the elevation above and beyond immanence. Thereby, both the silent metaphysical anchor in Kurzweil's analysis of specific literary artworks and the hermeneutic productivity underlying Jaspers' metaphysics are manifested.
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7. The Phenomenology of the Nothing: The Hidden Dialogue with
Heidegger—A New Chapter Added to the Second Edition
This chapter, composed especially for the second edition and not previously
published, addresses HCM’s ontological perspective on the Nothing, while
consulting Heidegger’s perception of the same that is bound with his idea
of the inception (Anfang) of Being. Based on the analysis of the thinking of
the two contemporaries, the chapter proposes an outline of a phenomenology
of the Nothing in three steps: first, I present the point of departure rooted
in a fundamental ontological difference; second, I establish the precedence
of the Nothing over real existence; finally, I discuss the fundamental bond
between Nothing and Being. These steps join to form one metaphysical argument: Nothing precedes Being, which is maintained throughout, and thereby
forms the essential finitude of reality.
available also in paperback format (2019):
https://www.routledge.com/Husserl-and-Other-Phenomenologists-1st-Edition/Miron/p/book/9780367220389
Abstract
The Angel of Jewish History deals with the relation between the traditional Jewish past and the present, one of the key questions in Jewish intellectual thought from the time of Wissenschaft des Judentums (חכמת ישראל) to the present day. The question is examined through the work of intellectuals known as having a shaping influence on Jewish Studies in Israel and abroad: Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, Amos Funkenstein, Gershom Scholem, Baruch Kurzweill, and Nathan Rotenstreich. These five shaped a stormy discourse that directly confronts the binary problem typical of the relation between past and present, secularization and religion, tradition and history, and so on. The book examines the positions of the mentioned intellectuals through two main paradigms: the break paradigm represented by Yerushalmi, and the continuity paradigm represented by Funkenstein. These two paradigms sketch the binary field in a dialectical way that enables the reexamination of the five's intellectual achievements.
The book's main argument is that each of the five's work is based on a metaphysical world view, which on the one hand served them as an anchor and starting point, and on the other hand was constantly fed by their achievements. The term "world view" in this context denotes the focus on the personal, although not the biographical or psychological, dimension of the figure as creating an original interpretative endeavor. The book's main purpose is to extricate the metaphysical world view from the writings of the five thinkers, and to explicate it using philosophical tools. The discussion is focused on the philosophical aspects of the five's work, formed around shared issues concerning the nature of modern Judaism and the processes of its formation, mainly Wissenschaft des Judentums and historicism; the images of the past and Jewish tradition; secularization and the status of God in the present-day Jewish reality.
One of the book's important innovations is illuminating the dominance of the binary framework in shaping the world view of the five persons discussed. The power of this binary framework is apparent both in the thinkers who adopted it (Yerushalmi and Funkenstein) and in the attempts of others to dispute it and propose an alternative (Scholem, Kurzweill, and Rotenstreich). Tracing the complex permeation of this framework into the world view of the five allows them to be characterized as constituting a type of intellectual field within which forces of attraction and repelling operate on its participants, who complement or contradict each other, or both at once.
Another of the book's innovations is applying two classical and general philosophical methods – phenomenological and hermeneutical – to a subject from the realm of Jewish Studies that has so far usually been studied by historians or from a historical angle. Even the few philosophy scholars who have discussed some of the figures did not propose a systematic philosophical observation of the world view of their work, such as the one this book offers. Each of the methods makes a unique contribution to the book's discussion: the phenomenological method helps explicate the relations between the immanence and the transcendence (God) that provide the encompassing philosophical context within which the discussion takes place. The phenomenological reading also offers a reflection about the relations between consciousness and its objects, and in this context, between the historian, critic, and philosopher and the objects of their creation – the past or tradition, the literary work, and the philosophical concepts. The hermeneutic method focuses on analyzing the contents and basic perceptions appearing in the texts themselves and clarifying their relations to the assumptions of abstract thought structures that were extricated using the phenomenological reading. These two methods complement each other and together achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the five's world views as expressed in their works, from the premises in which each was anchored up to the positive approaches formulated around the issues mentioned.
This book is intended for anyone concerned about the relation between the Jewish past and the present. Such a reader may be a professional from the fields of philosophy, history, sociology, Hebrew literature, and the study of Jewish culture. The book also appeals to intellectuals and scholars touched by the question of break and continuity in Jewish existence. Advanced students in the mentioned areas may benefit from the book in two respects: systematic, meaning a deep acquaintance with thinkers and thought regarding the book's discussed questions; and methodical, being exposed to the phenomenological and hermeneutical tools as mechanisms of textual interpretation.
הטענה העיקרית של הספר היא שביסוד מפעלם של כל אחד מהחמישה עמדה השקפת עולם מטאפיזית, שמצד אחד שמשה עבורם עוגן ונקודת מוצא ומצד שני הוזנה בהתמדה על-ידי הישגיו. המונח 'השקפת העולם' מציין בהקשר זה את המיקוד בממד האישי, אם כי לא הביוגרפי או הפסיכולוגי, של הדמות כיוצרת של מפעל פרשני מקורי. מטרתו המרכזית של הספר היא לחלץ את השקפת העולם המטאפיזית מתוך כתביהם של חמשת האישים שהספר מוקדש למפעלם ולהנהירה בכלים פילוסופיים. הדיון ממוקד בהיבטים ההגותיים הגלומים במפעלם של החמישה שהתגבש סביב סוגיות משותפות הנוגעות לטיבה של היהדות המודרנית ולתהליכי התגבשותה, שבמרכזן: 'חכמת ישראל' וההיסטוריציזם, דמותם של העבר ושל המסורת היהודית, החילון ומעמדו של אלוהים במציאות היהודית שבהווה.
אחד החידושים החשובים של הספר עניינו בהארת הדומיננטיות של המסגרת הבינרית בעיצוב השקפות עולמם של חמשת האישים הנדונים בו. עוצמתה של המסגרת הבינרית ניכרת הן אצל ההוגים שאימצו אותה (ירושלמי ופונקנשטיין) והן בניסיונות של אחרים לערער עליה ולהציע לה חלופה (שלום, קורצווייל ורוטנשטרייך). המעקב אחרי חילחולה המורכב של מסגרת זו להשקפת עולמם של חמשת מאפשר לאפיין אותם כמכוננים מעין 'שדה אינטלקטואלי' שכוחות של משיכה ודחייה פועלים על משתתפיו השרויים ביחסי השלמה, ניגוד או שניהם גם יחד.
חידוש נוסף של הספר הוא בהפניה של שתי מתודות פילוסופיות קלאסיות וכלליות – פנומנולוגית והרמנויטית – לנושא מתחומם של מדעי היהדות שעד כה טופל לרוב על ידי היסטוריונים או מזווית היסטורית. אפילו מיעוטם של חוקרי הגות שנדרשו לחלק מאישים הנדונים בספר, לא הציעו התבוננות פילוסופית שיטתית על השקפת העולם המשוקעת במפעלם כמו זו המוצעת בספר. לכל אחת מהמתודות תרומה ייחודית לדיון בספר: המתודה הפנומנולוגית מסייעת בהנהרה של היחסים בין האימננטיות לבין הטרנסצנדנציה (אלוהים) המעניקים את המסגרת הפילוסופית המקיפה שבתוכה מתנהל הדיון בספר. כמו כן הקריאה הפנומנולוגית מציעה רפלקסיה ייחודית על אודות היחסים בין התודעה לבין מושאיה, ובהקשר שלפנינו בין ההיסטוריון, המבקר והפילוסוף לבין מושאי היצירה שלהם – העבר או המסורת, היצירה הספרותית והמושגים הפילוסופיים. המתודה ההרמנויטית ממוקדת בניתוח התכנים ותפיסות היסוד המופיעים בטקסטים עצמם ובבירור יחסיהם להנחות לתשתיות המחשבה המופשטות שחולצו באמצעות הקריאה הפנומנולוגית. שתי המתודות מצטרפות זו לזו ומסייעות יחד להשגת הבנה מקיפה של השקפת עולמם כפי שמצאה את ביטויה ביצירותיהם של החמישה, למן הנחות היסוד שכל אחת הייתה מעוגנת בה ועד לתפיסות הפוזיטיביות שהתגבשו בה סביב הסוגיות המוזכרות.
הספר מיועד לכל מי ששאלת היחסים שבין העבר היהודי לבין ההווה מטרידים אותו. קורא זה עשוי להיות איש מקצוע מתחומי הפילוסופיה, ההיסטוריה, הסוציולוגיה, הספרות העברית וחקר התרבות היהודית. כמו כן, הספר פונה אל אינטלקטואלים ואל משכילים ששאלת הקרע ורציפות בקיום היהודי נוגעת לליבם. לסטודנטים מהתחומים המוזכרים שכבר הלכו בהם כברת דרך הספר עשוי לתרום בשני היבטים: האחד שיטתי, היינו היכרות מעמיקה עם הוגים והגות שעסקו בשאלות הנדונות בספר. השני, מתודי ועניינו בחשיפה לכלי העבודה הפנומנולוגיים וההרמנויטיים כמנגנוני פרשנות טקסטואליים.
Metaphysical consciousness, the explication of which is the focus of this study, is presented as based upon two fundamental drives which run through Jaspers’ philosophy: the drive to elucidate selfhood and the drive to obtain an explication of Being. Jaspers contends with these drives in a work written during two periods of his life upon which this study will focus: the “medical-psychological period” (1910-1919), and the “philosophical period” (1932-1947).
The development of Jaspers’ thought is examined in this study from two perspectives – the genealogical and the thematic. The genealogical approach, which examines the order in which his ideas emerged and the influence of earlier on later ideas, serves to explicate and to reflect the developmental dynamics of Jaspers’ work. In addition to the genealogical approach, a number of central topics are examined from a thematic perspective, which seeks to distill Jaspers’ central claims with regard to those issues which the study considers central to the process of establishing metaphysical consciousness.
Structure
The study opens with a preface, which presents the framework for Jaspers’ philosophizing and the double method that is implemented in the suggested interpretation to it. This chapter is followed by three sections, comprising eleven chapters: The first section (chapters 1 through 4) focuses on an explication of selfhood and discusses all of the writings from Jaspers’ first period, and some of those from his second period. In addition to elucidating the evolution of the concepts of “self” [Selbst], the “soul” [Seelische] and “subjectivity” [Subjektivität] in Jaspers’ thought, this section also examines the expansion of his philosophizing framework – from the psycho-pathological departure point of his early writings, to the broader philosophical perspective in which he established the being of “existence” [Existenz]. My principal claim in this section is that the philosophical effort to obtain an explication of selfhood is guided by the solipsistic image of selfhood. A growing awareness of the existence of this image can be noted, however, beginning with Jaspers’ philosophical works, and this awareness is accompanied by an effort to contend with its implications for metaphysical consciousness.
The second section, which includes an introductory methodological chapter, three substantive chapters ( 5-7) and a closing chapter, examines what I have termed “transition mechanisms”. This section discusses three central philosophical ideas – “communication”, “historicity” and “ultimate situations”. These ideas are presented as central tools with which Jaspers extricated his concept of selfhood from solipsism, and which consequently led to the establishment of a philosophical axis designed to explicate being.
The third section (Chapters 8 through 11) focuses on an explication of being, and is based in its entirety on writings from Jaspers’ philosophical period. It was in this period that the concepts of “Being” [Sein] and “Transcendence” [Transzendenz] were made the focal points of his philosophical discourse. Consequently, although the initial impetus for discussing the question of “Being” and for seeking “Transcendence” was to be found in “existence”, this latter concept was demoted from the focal point of Jaspers’ philosophical discourse, since he no longer considered it to be a primary criterion for examining the questions with which he was concerned.
This study seeks to elucidate Jaspers’ vast opus, primarily from within itself and through an examination of the complex relations between its disparate parts. The decision to conduct a phenomonological explication of a philosophical text mandates that the texts themselves be the focus of the study as well as its primary sources. The study’s primary purpose is to shed light upon the many faces of Jaspers’ thought and on its dynamic nature. This is done by following the thought processes of Jaspers himself, without discussing external justifications or proposing critical judgement of the validity of his claims. I have consequently avoided discussing questions pertaining to the influences on Jaspers’ thought, or examining similarities and differences between him and other thinkers, or the historical context in which his works were produced. This having been said, discussion of Jaspers’ work cannot take place in a vacuum, or in disregard to the vast body of scholarly literature that has previously focused on his thought. The interpretations and understandings which previous studies have offered of Jaspers’ work have served in the present study as tools to shed light on various aspects of his thought and on the ways in which it was received. I have therefore avoided debating the varied interpretations that have been offered, attempting instead, to the extent possible, to incorporate them into an original interpretation of Jaspers’ philosophy.
הפרשנות המוצעת בספר מתנהלת תוך דיאלוג עם המחקר הקיים על יצירתו של יאספרס. למעשה הקריאות הנוספות על יאספרס מתפקדות כחלק בלתי נפרד מיצירתו. לפיכך, לצד הביקורת על הפרשנויות הקיימת, חותר הספר המוצע להיבנות מהן כדי לחשוף את האתגרים שהציבה הגותו של יאספרס בפני קוראיה. מפרספקטיבה זו, מתגלה יצירתו של יאספרס כאחד הניסיונות הנועזים לגבש תפיסה מקורית אודות שתי התמות היסודיות – העצמיות וההוויה – שהעסיקו את הפילוסופיה ואת התרבות האנושית בכל הזמנים.
Edited Special Issues in Refereed Journals
ARTICLES IN REFEREED JOURNALS
hermeneutics of modern Hebrew literature of Baruch Kurzweil (1907-1972)
and the metaphysics of the German existentialist Karl Jaspers (1883-1969), in
particular his doctrine of 'Ciphers of Transcendence' (Chiffren der
Transzendenz.). Both thinkers shared fundamental evidence regarding the
existence of transcendence, whose complex modes of presence in the human
world require interpretation. Against this background, they devoted their
studies to the scrutiny of the signs of transcendent presence within
immanence and to the analysis of the alternating dynamic of discovery-
concealment - typical of this presence. The discussion in the article exposes
three focal aspects of the hidden dialogue between Kurzweil's hermeneutics
of modern Hebrew literature and Jaspers' doctrine of ciphers of
transcendence: the distancing from the 'I', 'Immanent transcendence', and the elevation above and beyond immanence. Thereby, both the silent metaphysical anchor in Kurzweil's analysis of specific literary artworks and the hermeneutic productivity underlying Jaspers' metaphysics are manifested.
7. The Phenomenology of the Nothing: The Hidden Dialogue with
Heidegger—A New Chapter Added to the Second Edition
This chapter, composed especially for the second edition and not previously
published, addresses HCM’s ontological perspective on the Nothing, while
consulting Heidegger’s perception of the same that is bound with his idea
of the inception (Anfang) of Being. Based on the analysis of the thinking of
the two contemporaries, the chapter proposes an outline of a phenomenology
of the Nothing in three steps: first, I present the point of departure rooted
in a fundamental ontological difference; second, I establish the precedence
of the Nothing over real existence; finally, I discuss the fundamental bond
between Nothing and Being. These steps join to form one metaphysical argument: Nothing precedes Being, which is maintained throughout, and thereby
forms the essential finitude of reality.
available also in paperback format (2019):
https://www.routledge.com/Husserl-and-Other-Phenomenologists-1st-Edition/Miron/p/book/9780367220389
Abstract
The Angel of Jewish History deals with the relation between the traditional Jewish past and the present, one of the key questions in Jewish intellectual thought from the time of Wissenschaft des Judentums (חכמת ישראל) to the present day. The question is examined through the work of intellectuals known as having a shaping influence on Jewish Studies in Israel and abroad: Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, Amos Funkenstein, Gershom Scholem, Baruch Kurzweill, and Nathan Rotenstreich. These five shaped a stormy discourse that directly confronts the binary problem typical of the relation between past and present, secularization and religion, tradition and history, and so on. The book examines the positions of the mentioned intellectuals through two main paradigms: the break paradigm represented by Yerushalmi, and the continuity paradigm represented by Funkenstein. These two paradigms sketch the binary field in a dialectical way that enables the reexamination of the five's intellectual achievements.
The book's main argument is that each of the five's work is based on a metaphysical world view, which on the one hand served them as an anchor and starting point, and on the other hand was constantly fed by their achievements. The term "world view" in this context denotes the focus on the personal, although not the biographical or psychological, dimension of the figure as creating an original interpretative endeavor. The book's main purpose is to extricate the metaphysical world view from the writings of the five thinkers, and to explicate it using philosophical tools. The discussion is focused on the philosophical aspects of the five's work, formed around shared issues concerning the nature of modern Judaism and the processes of its formation, mainly Wissenschaft des Judentums and historicism; the images of the past and Jewish tradition; secularization and the status of God in the present-day Jewish reality.
One of the book's important innovations is illuminating the dominance of the binary framework in shaping the world view of the five persons discussed. The power of this binary framework is apparent both in the thinkers who adopted it (Yerushalmi and Funkenstein) and in the attempts of others to dispute it and propose an alternative (Scholem, Kurzweill, and Rotenstreich). Tracing the complex permeation of this framework into the world view of the five allows them to be characterized as constituting a type of intellectual field within which forces of attraction and repelling operate on its participants, who complement or contradict each other, or both at once.
Another of the book's innovations is applying two classical and general philosophical methods – phenomenological and hermeneutical – to a subject from the realm of Jewish Studies that has so far usually been studied by historians or from a historical angle. Even the few philosophy scholars who have discussed some of the figures did not propose a systematic philosophical observation of the world view of their work, such as the one this book offers. Each of the methods makes a unique contribution to the book's discussion: the phenomenological method helps explicate the relations between the immanence and the transcendence (God) that provide the encompassing philosophical context within which the discussion takes place. The phenomenological reading also offers a reflection about the relations between consciousness and its objects, and in this context, between the historian, critic, and philosopher and the objects of their creation – the past or tradition, the literary work, and the philosophical concepts. The hermeneutic method focuses on analyzing the contents and basic perceptions appearing in the texts themselves and clarifying their relations to the assumptions of abstract thought structures that were extricated using the phenomenological reading. These two methods complement each other and together achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the five's world views as expressed in their works, from the premises in which each was anchored up to the positive approaches formulated around the issues mentioned.
This book is intended for anyone concerned about the relation between the Jewish past and the present. Such a reader may be a professional from the fields of philosophy, history, sociology, Hebrew literature, and the study of Jewish culture. The book also appeals to intellectuals and scholars touched by the question of break and continuity in Jewish existence. Advanced students in the mentioned areas may benefit from the book in two respects: systematic, meaning a deep acquaintance with thinkers and thought regarding the book's discussed questions; and methodical, being exposed to the phenomenological and hermeneutical tools as mechanisms of textual interpretation.
הטענה העיקרית של הספר היא שביסוד מפעלם של כל אחד מהחמישה עמדה השקפת עולם מטאפיזית, שמצד אחד שמשה עבורם עוגן ונקודת מוצא ומצד שני הוזנה בהתמדה על-ידי הישגיו. המונח 'השקפת העולם' מציין בהקשר זה את המיקוד בממד האישי, אם כי לא הביוגרפי או הפסיכולוגי, של הדמות כיוצרת של מפעל פרשני מקורי. מטרתו המרכזית של הספר היא לחלץ את השקפת העולם המטאפיזית מתוך כתביהם של חמשת האישים שהספר מוקדש למפעלם ולהנהירה בכלים פילוסופיים. הדיון ממוקד בהיבטים ההגותיים הגלומים במפעלם של החמישה שהתגבש סביב סוגיות משותפות הנוגעות לטיבה של היהדות המודרנית ולתהליכי התגבשותה, שבמרכזן: 'חכמת ישראל' וההיסטוריציזם, דמותם של העבר ושל המסורת היהודית, החילון ומעמדו של אלוהים במציאות היהודית שבהווה.
אחד החידושים החשובים של הספר עניינו בהארת הדומיננטיות של המסגרת הבינרית בעיצוב השקפות עולמם של חמשת האישים הנדונים בו. עוצמתה של המסגרת הבינרית ניכרת הן אצל ההוגים שאימצו אותה (ירושלמי ופונקנשטיין) והן בניסיונות של אחרים לערער עליה ולהציע לה חלופה (שלום, קורצווייל ורוטנשטרייך). המעקב אחרי חילחולה המורכב של מסגרת זו להשקפת עולמם של חמשת מאפשר לאפיין אותם כמכוננים מעין 'שדה אינטלקטואלי' שכוחות של משיכה ודחייה פועלים על משתתפיו השרויים ביחסי השלמה, ניגוד או שניהם גם יחד.
חידוש נוסף של הספר הוא בהפניה של שתי מתודות פילוסופיות קלאסיות וכלליות – פנומנולוגית והרמנויטית – לנושא מתחומם של מדעי היהדות שעד כה טופל לרוב על ידי היסטוריונים או מזווית היסטורית. אפילו מיעוטם של חוקרי הגות שנדרשו לחלק מאישים הנדונים בספר, לא הציעו התבוננות פילוסופית שיטתית על השקפת העולם המשוקעת במפעלם כמו זו המוצעת בספר. לכל אחת מהמתודות תרומה ייחודית לדיון בספר: המתודה הפנומנולוגית מסייעת בהנהרה של היחסים בין האימננטיות לבין הטרנסצנדנציה (אלוהים) המעניקים את המסגרת הפילוסופית המקיפה שבתוכה מתנהל הדיון בספר. כמו כן הקריאה הפנומנולוגית מציעה רפלקסיה ייחודית על אודות היחסים בין התודעה לבין מושאיה, ובהקשר שלפנינו בין ההיסטוריון, המבקר והפילוסוף לבין מושאי היצירה שלהם – העבר או המסורת, היצירה הספרותית והמושגים הפילוסופיים. המתודה ההרמנויטית ממוקדת בניתוח התכנים ותפיסות היסוד המופיעים בטקסטים עצמם ובבירור יחסיהם להנחות לתשתיות המחשבה המופשטות שחולצו באמצעות הקריאה הפנומנולוגית. שתי המתודות מצטרפות זו לזו ומסייעות יחד להשגת הבנה מקיפה של השקפת עולמם כפי שמצאה את ביטויה ביצירותיהם של החמישה, למן הנחות היסוד שכל אחת הייתה מעוגנת בה ועד לתפיסות הפוזיטיביות שהתגבשו בה סביב הסוגיות המוזכרות.
הספר מיועד לכל מי ששאלת היחסים שבין העבר היהודי לבין ההווה מטרידים אותו. קורא זה עשוי להיות איש מקצוע מתחומי הפילוסופיה, ההיסטוריה, הסוציולוגיה, הספרות העברית וחקר התרבות היהודית. כמו כן, הספר פונה אל אינטלקטואלים ואל משכילים ששאלת הקרע ורציפות בקיום היהודי נוגעת לליבם. לסטודנטים מהתחומים המוזכרים שכבר הלכו בהם כברת דרך הספר עשוי לתרום בשני היבטים: האחד שיטתי, היינו היכרות מעמיקה עם הוגים והגות שעסקו בשאלות הנדונות בספר. השני, מתודי ועניינו בחשיפה לכלי העבודה הפנומנולוגיים וההרמנויטיים כמנגנוני פרשנות טקסטואליים.
Metaphysical consciousness, the explication of which is the focus of this study, is presented as based upon two fundamental drives which run through Jaspers’ philosophy: the drive to elucidate selfhood and the drive to obtain an explication of Being. Jaspers contends with these drives in a work written during two periods of his life upon which this study will focus: the “medical-psychological period” (1910-1919), and the “philosophical period” (1932-1947).
The development of Jaspers’ thought is examined in this study from two perspectives – the genealogical and the thematic. The genealogical approach, which examines the order in which his ideas emerged and the influence of earlier on later ideas, serves to explicate and to reflect the developmental dynamics of Jaspers’ work. In addition to the genealogical approach, a number of central topics are examined from a thematic perspective, which seeks to distill Jaspers’ central claims with regard to those issues which the study considers central to the process of establishing metaphysical consciousness.
Structure
The study opens with a preface, which presents the framework for Jaspers’ philosophizing and the double method that is implemented in the suggested interpretation to it. This chapter is followed by three sections, comprising eleven chapters: The first section (chapters 1 through 4) focuses on an explication of selfhood and discusses all of the writings from Jaspers’ first period, and some of those from his second period. In addition to elucidating the evolution of the concepts of “self” [Selbst], the “soul” [Seelische] and “subjectivity” [Subjektivität] in Jaspers’ thought, this section also examines the expansion of his philosophizing framework – from the psycho-pathological departure point of his early writings, to the broader philosophical perspective in which he established the being of “existence” [Existenz]. My principal claim in this section is that the philosophical effort to obtain an explication of selfhood is guided by the solipsistic image of selfhood. A growing awareness of the existence of this image can be noted, however, beginning with Jaspers’ philosophical works, and this awareness is accompanied by an effort to contend with its implications for metaphysical consciousness.
The second section, which includes an introductory methodological chapter, three substantive chapters ( 5-7) and a closing chapter, examines what I have termed “transition mechanisms”. This section discusses three central philosophical ideas – “communication”, “historicity” and “ultimate situations”. These ideas are presented as central tools with which Jaspers extricated his concept of selfhood from solipsism, and which consequently led to the establishment of a philosophical axis designed to explicate being.
The third section (Chapters 8 through 11) focuses on an explication of being, and is based in its entirety on writings from Jaspers’ philosophical period. It was in this period that the concepts of “Being” [Sein] and “Transcendence” [Transzendenz] were made the focal points of his philosophical discourse. Consequently, although the initial impetus for discussing the question of “Being” and for seeking “Transcendence” was to be found in “existence”, this latter concept was demoted from the focal point of Jaspers’ philosophical discourse, since he no longer considered it to be a primary criterion for examining the questions with which he was concerned.
This study seeks to elucidate Jaspers’ vast opus, primarily from within itself and through an examination of the complex relations between its disparate parts. The decision to conduct a phenomonological explication of a philosophical text mandates that the texts themselves be the focus of the study as well as its primary sources. The study’s primary purpose is to shed light upon the many faces of Jaspers’ thought and on its dynamic nature. This is done by following the thought processes of Jaspers himself, without discussing external justifications or proposing critical judgement of the validity of his claims. I have consequently avoided discussing questions pertaining to the influences on Jaspers’ thought, or examining similarities and differences between him and other thinkers, or the historical context in which his works were produced. This having been said, discussion of Jaspers’ work cannot take place in a vacuum, or in disregard to the vast body of scholarly literature that has previously focused on his thought. The interpretations and understandings which previous studies have offered of Jaspers’ work have served in the present study as tools to shed light on various aspects of his thought and on the ways in which it was received. I have therefore avoided debating the varied interpretations that have been offered, attempting instead, to the extent possible, to incorporate them into an original interpretation of Jaspers’ philosophy.
הפרשנות המוצעת בספר מתנהלת תוך דיאלוג עם המחקר הקיים על יצירתו של יאספרס. למעשה הקריאות הנוספות על יאספרס מתפקדות כחלק בלתי נפרד מיצירתו. לפיכך, לצד הביקורת על הפרשנויות הקיימת, חותר הספר המוצע להיבנות מהן כדי לחשוף את האתגרים שהציבה הגותו של יאספרס בפני קוראיה. מפרספקטיבה זו, מתגלה יצירתו של יאספרס כאחד הניסיונות הנועזים לגבש תפיסה מקורית אודות שתי התמות היסודיות – העצמיות וההוויה – שהעסיקו את הפילוסופיה ואת התרבות האנושית בכל הזמנים.
hermeneutics of modern Hebrew literature of Baruch Kurzweil (1907-1972)
and the metaphysics of the German existentialist Karl Jaspers (1883-1969), in
particular his doctrine of 'Ciphers of Transcendence' (Chiffren der
Transzendenz.). Both thinkers shared fundamental evidence regarding the
existence of transcendence, whose complex modes of presence in the human
world require interpretation. Against this background, they devoted their
studies to the scrutiny of the signs of transcendent presence within
immanence and to the analysis of the alternating dynamic of discovery-
concealment - typical of this presence. The discussion in the article exposes
three focal aspects of the hidden dialogue between Kurzweil's hermeneutics
of modern Hebrew literature and Jaspers' doctrine of ciphers of
transcendence: the distancing from the 'I', 'Immanent transcendence', and the elevation above and beyond immanence. Thereby, both the silent metaphysical anchor in Kurzweil's analysis of specific literary artworks and the hermeneutic productivity underlying Jaspers' metaphysics are manifested.
A Critical Commentary on Baruch Kurzweil Hermeneutics vis-à-vis Martin Heidegger's Idea of a Work of Art
The common distinction in modern philosophy between approaches that are anchored in mundane reality and those that are addressed to the transcendent one is put to a radical test in Baruch Kurzweil's Hermeneutics, at the center of which the Hebrew author and poet represent the alternative to the traditional Jewish scholar. This article unveils the accordance between Kurzweil's understanding of the mundane and transcendent realities that find their expression in modern Hebrew literature and his interpretation of the ways in which the creating subject responds to them. Relying on the affinities between Kurzweil's Hermeneutics and Martin Heidegger's idea of man (Dasein) and art, the central argument in the article is that the dominance of the artist in regard to his work of art does not diminish his metaphysical vocation as "the poet of reality". Quite the opposite, the modern author and poet in Kurzweil's thinking transpires as having a special accessibility to mundane and transcendent realities that enable him to dub them, also in works of art that declare their unreserved secularity.
(This article appears in a special issue "Husserl and other Phenomenologists" which i edited for The European Legacy: Towards New Paradigms, 21, 5-6, 2016)
Yeshayahu Leibowitz. The discussion begins by uncovering the common starting point
of the two thinkers, which anchors religious faith in one’s volitional decision. Yet this
commonality appears to be violated by essential differences between their understandings
of the religious experience. Delving into the differences between Stein’s and
Leibowitz’s idea of faith demonstrates two faces of radicalism in the human religious
experience.
phenomenologist, Hedwig Conrad-Martius (1880–1966). In this regard, she discerns
“two opposing extremes” regarding the _I-being (ichhafte Sein): autonomic and
“causa sui” being on the one hand, and “complete powerlessness” (vollkommene
Seinsohnmacht) that is surrounded by the threat of nothingness on the other hand.
As opposed to unifying views of the “I”, in particular Husserl’s idealistic one that
identifies it with the pure consciousness of the ego, Conrad-Martius leaves room
neither for a mutual exclusion nor for a convergence into unity of the two composing
elements of the “I”. Hence the duality of the I transpires as a genuine philosophical
problem that as such is unresolved.
against the worldview (Weltanschauung) of idealism in connection to her phenomenological idea of reality. The discussion focuses on her most far-reaching critical argument concerning the damage caused by idealism to the possibility for metaphysics by turning the real (das Wirkliche) into the ideal (Ideelles), thereby reducing
reality to an idea. This article analyses Conrad-Martius’ understanding of the evolution of idealism and of her criticism regarding the metaphysical absolutizing of the
ideal in idealism. Her subsequent response to idealism attempts to rehabilitate the
facticity (Faktizität) of real reality (wirkliche Wirklichkeit) within metaphysics.
Raft on the Open Sea : Man and the World in Jan Patočka's (1907-1977) Phenomenological Philosophy
The author discusses Gershom Scholem’s specific understanding of religious anarchy (the concept inspired by Martin Buber’s thought), and the role the anarchic position plays in the history of the Jewish nation and in its interpretation. She shows Scholem’s religious anarchism as dialectically uniting two contrasting yet complementary contexts: the context of historical observation that views the overt reality without bias, and that of metaphysical observation that reveals the signals of transcendence present in reality. This allows Scholem, in the author’s view, to understand the past as an arena in which transcendent
forces are active, and simultaneously to perceive the Jewish tradition as a reservoir of ‘materials’ from which the ‘affirmative’, i.e., the new utopian order, will be constructed.
Summarized by Patrycja Mikulska
Tereza-Brînduşa Palade,
Ronny Miron, Karl Jaspers: From Selfhood to Being, Value Inquiry Book Series, Rodopi, Amsterdam – New York, 2012.
The ROMANIAN JOURNAL of SOCIETY and POLITICS, New Series, Vol. IX | No. 1 | Issue 17, June 2014, pp. 153-155.
כנס האגודה הפילוסופית הישראלית החדשה תשפ״ד
טענתו היסודית של היידגר בחיבור ׳מה נקרא לחשוב?׳ היא ש״מה שדורש הכי הרבה מחשבה בתקופתנו דורשת המחשבה הוא שאנחנו טרם חושבים״. חיבור זה מהווה ציון דרך במאמץ המתמשך של המחבר להציע חלופה למטפיזיקה המערבית המעוגנת בסובייקטיביות ולפלס דרך אל ממד מציאותי שלדעתו חסום בפני החשיבה המייצגת האופיינית לה . מעבר לביקורת הנוקבת על ה׳מידבור׳ הפושה בתרבות בת זמנו, החיבור מדגים יישום של עקרונות החשיבה המאוחרת שלו על סוגייה מובחנת אם כי יסודית, קרי: החשיבה. אין מדובר בעמדה מטא-תיאורטית על סוגיית החשיבה, אלא בניסיון שאפתני לשרטט קווים לדמותה של החשיבה שבכוחה לצלוח את התהום שנפערה בין האדם המערבי אל הישות ולהביאו אל מפתנה של חשיבה חדשה שבכוחה לדובב את המסתורין של הישות. ההרצאה תתמקד בתרומה של מונחי ה׳קפיצה׳ וה׳התחלה האחרת׳ שפיתח בסדרת החיבורים ׳תרומות לפילוסופיה׳ להבנת דמותה של החשיבה שבכוחה לפנות אל הישות ולהענות באמצעותה.
A metaphysical look at the limits of the inevitable
Continental seminar "Philosophy in times of war"
Moral Legitimacies for action in Extreme States
(The Rector’s Grant for Interdisciplinary Research Group)
14-15 May 2018
Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan
The aim of our issue is to shed new light on the reception of Husserl’s philosophy in the thinking of these phenomenologists and on their peculiar contribution to broaden the field of phenomenological research.
We welcome submissions combining historical and systematic accentuation. Contributions can focus on one of the three indicated phenomenologists or suggest a comparative perspective in this regard. Authors are invited to consider one of the following topics:
Women phenomenologists and the question of phenomenological method;
Edith Stein’s phenomenological analyses, metaphysics, and philosophical anthropology;
Conrad-Martius’ ontology, philosophy of science, and conception of man;
Gerda Walther’s contribution to and development from phenomenology;
Theoretical affinities and differences between women phenomenologists’ perspectives;
The relation between women phenomenologists and other proponents of phenomenological tradition.
Guest Editors: Ronny Miron & Simona Bertolini