Idolatry and Representation : The Philosophy of Franz Rosenzweig Reconsidered

Although Franz Rosenzweig is arguably the most important Jewish philosopher of the twentieth century, his thought remains little understood. Here, Leora Batnitzky argues that Rosenzweig's redirection of German-Jewish ethical monotheism anticipates and challenges contemporary trends in religious studies, ethics, philosophy, anthropology, theology, and biblical studies. This text, which captures the hermeneutical movement of Rosenzweig's corpus, is the first to consider the full import of the cultural criticism articulated in his writings on the modern meanings of art, language, ethics, and national identity. In the process, the book solves significant conundrums about Rosenzweig's relation to German idealism, to other major Jewish thinkers, to Jewish political life, and to Christianity, and brings Rosenzweig into conversation with key contemporary thinkers. Drawing on Rosenzweig's view that Judaism's ban on idolatry is the crucial intellectual and spiritual resource available to respond to the social implications of human finitude, Batnitzky interrogates idolatry as a modern possibility. Her analysis speaks not only to the question of Judaism's relationship to modernity (and vice versa), but also to the generic question of the present's relationship to the past--a subject of great importance to anyone contemplating the modern statuses of religious tradition, reason, science, and historical inquiry. By way of Rosenzweig, Batnitzky argues that contemporary philosophers and ethicists must relearn their approaches to religious traditions and texts to address today's central ethical problems. Contents Acknowledgments Introduction. Reconsidering Rosenzweig and Modern Conceptions of Idolatry PA RT I : ETHICS AND MONOTHEISM One. The Eradication of Alien Worship: Rosenzweig as Ethical Monotheist Two. Miracles and Martyrs, Ethics and Hermeneutics: Idolatry from Mendelssohn to Rosenzweig Three. The Philosophical Import of Carnal Israel: Hermeneutics and the Structure of Rosenzweig’s The Star of Redemption PART II : ART AND LANGUAGE Four Risky Images: Rosenzweig’s Aesthetic Theory and Jewish Uncanniness Five The Problem of Translation: Risking the Present for the Sake of the Past PART III: RELIGIONAND POLITICS Six. Risking Religion: Christian Idolatry Seven. Risking Politics: Jewish Idolatry Eight. After Israel: Rosenzweig’s Philosophy of Risk Reconsidered Conclusion. The Future of Monotheism Notes Index