Overview

In this book, Daniel Herskowitz examines the rich, intense, and persistent Jewish engagement with one of the most important and controversial modern philosophers, Martin Heidegger. Contextualizing this encounter within wider intellectual, cultural, and political contexts, he outlines the main patterns and the diverse Jewish responses to Heidegger. Herskowitz shows that through a dialectic of attraction and repulsion, Jewish thinkers developed a version of Jewishness that sought to offer the way out of the overall crisis plaguing their world, which was embodied, as they saw it, in Heidegger's life and thought. Neither turning a blind eye to Heidegger's anti-Semitism nor using it as an excuse for ignoring his philosophy, they wrestled with his existential analytic and what they took to be its religious, ethical, and political failings. Ironically, Heidegger's thought proved itself to be fertile ground for re-conceptualizing what it means to be Jewish in the modern world.

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9781108749954

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Reviews

'… Through meticulous philological and textual control, and an acute theoretical sophistication, Daniel M. Herskowitz illumines the historical and conceptual frame of reference for the Jewish reception of Heidegger … Eschewing a simplistic political disavowal of Heidegger on account of his Nazi affiliation, the book demonstrates the complexity of thought and the need to look beyond platitudes to understand the depth of philosophical reflection. The book will most surely provoke discussion and stimulate further research into this important and timely topic.' Elliot R. Wolfson, Marsha and Jay Glazer Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara 'Daniel M.Herskowitz does not avoid Heidegger's infamous antisemitism in his brilliant new book … in Heidegger and His Jewish Reception, Herskowitz shows that the German philosopher influenced an astonishingly wide array of twentieth century Jewish philosophers, theologians, and scholars.' Steven E. Aschheim, Jewish Review of Books 'The book engages with an impressive range of immediate recipients of Heidegger … commendable work done in this text …' Deborah Casewell, Political Theology 'This is a major work in Jewish intellectual history that will be of interest to a variety of scholars of religion who deal with secularization in its various forms.' Martin Kavka, Journal of the American Academy of Religion

'... Through meticulous philological and textual control, and an acute theoretical sophistication, Daniel M. Herskowitz illumines the historical and conceptual frame of reference for the Jewish reception of Heidegger ... Eschewing a simplistic political disavowal of Heidegger on account of his Nazi affiliation, the book demonstrates the complexity of thought and the need to look beyond platitudes to understand the depth of philosophical reflection. The book will most surely provoke discussion and stimulate further research into this important and timely topic.' Elliot R. Wolfson, Marsha and Jay Glazer Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara 'Daniel M.Herskowitz does not avoid Heidegger's infamous antisemitism in his brilliant new book ... in Heidegger and His Jewish Reception, Herskowitz shows that the German philosopher influenced an astonishingly wide array of twentieth century Jewish philosophers, theologians, and scholars.' Steven E. Aschheim, Jewish Review of Books 'The book engages with an impressive range of immediate recipients of Heidegger ... commendable work done in this text ...' Deborah Casewell, Political Theology 'This is a major work in Jewish intellectual history that will be of interest to a variety of scholars of religion who deal with secularization in its various forms.' Martin Kavka, Journal of the American Academy of Religion

Author Information

Daniel Herskowitz is Career Research Fellow in Jewish Studies at Wolfson College, University of Oxford.

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