Bøger i Studies and Texts in Scepticism serien

The present study addresses problems of an epistemological nature which hinge on the question of how to define Jewish thought. It inquires the relationship between Jewish culture, Greek philosophy, and Greco-Roman thought in connection with the quer

The study of Jewish converts to Christianity in the modern era has long been marginalized in Jewish historiography. Labeled disparagingly in the Jewish tradition as meshumadim (apostates), many earlier Jewish scholars treated these individuals in a negative light or generally ignored them as not properly belonging any longer to the community and its historical legacy. This situation has radically changed in recent years with an outpouring of new studies on converts in variegated times and places, culminating perhaps in the most recent synthesis of modern Jewish converts by Todd Endelman in 2015. While Endelman argues that most modern converts left the Jewish fold for economic, social, or political reasons, he does acknowledge the presence of those who chose to convert for ideological and spiritual motives. The purpose of this volume is to consider more fully the latter group, perhaps the most interesting from the perspective of Jewish intellectual history: those who moved from Judaism to Christianity out of a conviction that they were choosing a superior religion, and out of doubt or lack of confidence in the religious principles and practices of their former one. Their spiritual journeys often led them to suspect their newly adopted beliefs as well, and some even returned to Judaism or adopted a hybrid faith consisting of elements of both religions. Their intellectual itineraries between Judaism and Christianity offer a unique perspective on the formation of modern Jewish identities, Jewish-Christian relations, and the history of Jewish skeptical postures. The approach of the authors of this book is to avoid broad generalizations about the modern convert in favor of detailed case studies of specific converts in four distinct localities: Germany, Russia, Poland, and England, all living in the nineteenth- century. In so doing, it underscores the individuality of each convert¿s life experience and self-reflection and the need to examine more intensely this relatively neglected dimension of Jewish and Christian cultural and intellectual history.

Considered the first specimen of a theoretical literature on Jewish political economy, the Discourse is much more. Initially conceived as an apology for the Jewish community of Venice, it is actually replete with sceptical ideas.This volume will essentially aim at refreshing the approach to this work by highlighting and analysing its sceptical background and implications, especially as far as it involves the realm of politics and fashions a sceptical political appraisal of the Jewish people.

The tension between reason and revelation has occupied Jewish philosophers for centuries, who, on the one hand, were committed to defending Judaism and on the other hand to remaining loyal to philosophical principles. The present publication focuses on sceptical questions, methods, strategies, and approaches raised by Jewish thinkers in the Middle Ages.

Socrates, Or On Human Knowledge is the first sceptical treatise of the early modern period to be written by a Jew. This work, written in the vernacular and signed by the author describing himself as a ¿Venetian Jew,¿ must be considered a key work for investigating the intensive transfer of knowledge between Jews and Christians and as a mirror of the contemporary philosophical leanings and social and political changes.

This book focuses on Abraham Abulafiäs esoteric thought in relation to Maimonides, Maimonideans, and Islamic thought in the line of Leo Strauss¿ theory of the history of philosophy. A survey of Abulafiäs sources leads into an examination of the esoteric meaning on the famous parable of the three rings, as well as Abulafiäs universalistic understanding of the nature of the Bible, the Hebrew language, and the people of Israel.

To date, scholars explored Bruce Nauman's oeuvre through various perspectives, concepts and premises, including linguistics, performance, power and knowledge, sound, the political and more. Amidst this vast and rich field, Nauman's pieces have been regarded by critics in terms of systematic skepticism, tragic skepticism, skepticism of the medium, and linguistic doubt. This book methodically analyzes the notion of performative skepticism and its relevance to various dimensions of Bruce Nauman's post-minimalist artistic practice. It is argued that Nauman performs the perpetual failure of perception, hence, demonstrating its doubtful validity to produce certain knowledge without allowing a resolution. This kind of skepticism, here called performative skepticism, exposes the impossibility of epistemological equipment to produce knowledge, and the impossibility of attaining certainty in bridging the gap between knowledge and the real.