This collection includes two symposia, on The Renaissance of Jewish Philosophy in America and on Maimonides on the Eternity of the World, as well as other studies in medieval Jewish philosophy and modern Jewish thought. Contributors include: Leora Batnitzky, Ottfried Fraisse, William A. Galston, Lenn E. Goodman , Raphael Jospe, Steven Kepnes, Haim Howard Kreisel, Charles Bezalel Manekin, Haggai Mazuz, Paul Mendes-Flohr, Alan Mittleman, Michael Morgan, David Novak, James T. Robinson, Norbert M. Samuelson, Dov Schwartz, Yossef Schwartz, Kenneth Seeskin, Roslyn Weiss, and Martin Yaffe.
This collection of 20 essays represents two symposiums held by the contributors on the renaissance in Jewish philosophy, and "Maimonides on the Eternity of the World." For this reason they are organized in two parts. In the first, the contributors consider the impact that American life has had on the dogmatism of Jewish philosophers, rejecting it for "a faithful, intellectual, but non-dogmatic or superstitious Judaism." They also take into account American pragmatist hermeneutic take on scripture, the Holocaust and the problems of historicity, philosophical theology vs. mystical anti-philosophical theology, medieval Judaism's philosophical engagement with science in contemporary America, negative theology and the American ideal of responsible liberty, and the tension between Jerusalem and Athens in Jewish philosophy. Part one concludes with two responses from the perspective of contemporary American politics and intellectual history. The second part contains more specialized essays on Mose Maimonides, the near-ancient Jewish philosopher, regarding Maimonides "true opinion" about philosophical and theological questions. They touch on creation, the identity of the Sabians, epistemology and natural science, the phenomenology of faith, and more. The contributors are mostly Jewish philosophers and academics with backgrounds in philosophy. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
