Irene KajonContemporary Jewish Philosophy
An Introduction
Irene Kajon is Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Rome "La Sapienza." A leading interpreter of Jewish philosophy, she is the author of Ebraismo e sistema di filosofia in Hermann Cohen (Padova, 1989) and Fede ebraica e ateismo dopo Auschwitz (Perugia, 1993).
Part 1: Premises 1. The Parabola of Western Humanism 2. The Witness in
Primo Levi's If This is a Man 3. Philosophical Tradition, Judaism, New
Thought Part 2: Hermann Cohen (1842-1918) 1. The Contrast between Mechanism
and Freedom in the Early Writings 2. Interpreting the Kantian Doctrine of
the 'a priori' in the Works on Kant 3. The Idea of Humanity as Producer of
Culture in the Philosophical System 4. The Problems of the Individual and
the Foundation of Ethics in the Jewish Writings 5. The Identification of
Reason with Religious Love in the Opus Postumum Part 3: Franz Rosenzweig
(1886-1929) 1. Searching for the Ideal Man in the Diaries and Letters of
1905 to 1913 2. Revelation and Philosophy in the Texts between 1913 and
1917 and in the Star of Redemption 3. The Question of Jewish and Human
Essence in the Writings on Education and History 4. Faith in God and the
Concept of God in the Comments on the Poems of Yehuda Ha-Levi 5. The Bible
as Expression of the Heart in the Last Reflection Part 4: Martin Buber
(1878-1965) 1. The Refusal of Transcendence between 1900 and 1919 2. The
Lyric-Dramatic Moment of Reality in I and Thou 3. The Analysis of Human
Existence in Biblical Exegesis between 1926 and 1945 4. Education, Social
Philosophy, Hasidic Studies between 1926 and 1945 5. The Problem of Evil in
the Writings 1945-65 Part 5: Leo Strauss (1899-1973) 1. Subjectivism as a
Characteristic of Modernity in the Book on Spinoza 2. The Research on the
Grounds of Liberal Democracy between 1932 and 1936 3. The Rationalism of
Medieval Jewish and Islamic Thought in Philosophy and Law 4. The Meditation
on Natural Right between 1937 and 1966 5. The Antithesis
'Jerusalem'-'Athens', or Fidelity-Pride, in the Last Writings Part 6:
Emmanuel Levinas (1906-1995) 1. The First Contributions: Beyond
Consciousness, Existence, and the Existent 2. The Other as Expression in
Totality and Infinity 3. The Interpretation of Jewish Sources as
Philosophical Analysis 4. The Other in the 'Self' in Otherwise than Being
and in the Last Essays Part 7: A Final Remark: Human Rights, the Truth of
Witnessing, a Philosopher's Duty
