The Principles of Judaism

by Samuel Lebens

Overview

Samuel Lebens takes the three principles of Jewish faith, as proposed by Rabbi Joseph Albo (1380-1444), in order to scrutinize and refine them with the toolkit of contemporary analytic philosophy. What could it mean for a perfect being to create a world from nothing? Could our world be anything more than a figment of God's imagination? What is the Torah? What does Judaism expect from a Messiah, and what would it mean for a world to be redeemed? These questions are explored in conversation with a wide array of Jewish sources and with an eye towards diverse fields of contemporary research, such as cosmology, philosophical logic, the ontology of literature, and the metaphysics of time. The Principles of Judaism articulates the most fundamental axioms of Orthodox Judaism in the vernacular of contemporary philosophy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780192581259
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	06/30/2020
Series:	Oxford Studies in Analytic Theology
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	512
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Samuel Lebens is Research Fellow in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Haifa. His research interests focus on the history of early analytic philosophy, the philosophy of language, metaphysics, and the philosophy of religion. Having received his PhD from Birkbeck College, London, Lebens held post-docs at the University of Notre Dame, and Rutgers University before taking up his current position at the University of Haifa. Lebens is also an ordained Orthodox Rabbi and the chairperson and co-founder of the Association for the Philosophy of Judaism. His publications include Jewish Philosophy in an Analytic Age (co-edited with Dani Rabinowitz and and Aaron Segal; 2019) and Bertrand Russell and the Nature of Propositions: A History and Defence of the Multiple Relation Theory of Judgement (2017).

Table of Contents

1. Introduction Avoiding a Paradoxical Preface
Part I - Creation
2. Creatio Ex Nihilo
3. Idealism Ex Nihilo
4. Hassidic Idealism Responding to Problems
5. Hassidic Idealism Some Hidden Benefits
Part II - Revelation
6. What is the Torah? The Internal Problem with Revelation
7. Ongoing Revelation and the External Problems with Revelation
Part III - Redemption
8. Redeeming the Past
9. Conclusions: Frumkeit, Faith, and Make-Belief
10. Afterword Demystifying Jewish Mysticism

Editorial Reviews

"... even those who reject Lebens's Orthodox triumphalism will be fascinated by his analytic approach and insightfulness. For scholars of philosophy and religion." — J.D. Sarna, Brandeis University, CHOICE

"... the illumination that emerges from his work is more than worth the price of admission. And this aside from his truly noteworthy contribution in bringing the mystical side of Jewish thought into contact with medieval and even current analytical philosophy." — Howard Wettstein, Tradition

"There is something strikingly brand new here, I think, in the synthesis of traditional Jewish texts and thought with the content and methods of contemporary analytic philosophy. Future histories of philosophy may well mark this moment." — Andrew Pessin, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion

"A rigorous conceptual analysis of the fundamentals of Jewish faith by a bright new star in the Jewish intellectual firmament." — Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Former Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom

"Lebens is one of the very best younger philosophers in the Jewish tradition working in analytic theology. The Principles of Judaism is rigorous, original, and bold in exploring a fresh articulation of the deep principles of Judaism." — William J. Abraham, Outler Professor, Southern Methodist University

"This is an important book. Despite its title, it offers much to any philosopher of religion, and to philosophers in contemporary analytic metaphysics in general ... There is something strikingly brand new here, I think, in the synthesis of traditional Jewish texts and thought with the content and methods of contemporary analytic philosophy. Future histories of philosophy may well mark this moment." — Andrew Pessin, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion

From the Publisher