Philosophy of Religion

An examination of the works of some of the most significant twentieth-century philosophers of Judaism. In the first part of the seminar we will examine the philosophical, theological, and ethical foundations of Modern Orthodox Judaism. The principal readings will be Joseph B. Soloveitchik's The Emergence of Ethical Man and Aharon Lichtenstein's By His Light. The second part of the seminar will focus on the post World War II emergence of a new philosophy and theology of Judaism in France. Primary readings will come from Emmanuel Lévinas, Léon Askénazi, Alexandre Safran, and Henri Meschonnic. Special attention will be given to the relation between philosophical argument and analysis, and theological conception and method.

The writings of Philo of Alexandria are by far the largest extant remainder of Hellenistic Judaism: the mutually transformative encounter between Greek philosophy and ancient Judaism. Working with the Hebrew Bible’s Greek translation, Philo developed an allegorical approach that would become foundational for Neo-Platonists and for later Christian Jewish interpreters. This course focuses on the perfectionist dimension of Philo’s project. What role do reading interpretation and prayer play with respect to the perfection of the subject? What is the goal of this process, and what makes the Greek translation of the Bible capable of contributing toward this? What is the relationship between literal and allegorical layers of meaning? What is the relationship between the scriptural law of Moses and the unwritten law of nature, or between the particularity of Judaism and the universality of philosophy? How does prayer enable the transformation of the subject? Among the treatises from the Philonic corpus, we will read the following: The Contemplative Life; On Abraham; Life of Moses I and II; Who is The Heir; Confusion of Tongues; On the Sacrifice of Cain and Abel; On the Creation of the World; On the Decalogue; Special Laws I; Allegorical Interpretation. (II)

Recently, a number of best-selling books, by professional philosophers like Daniel Dennett (Breaking the Spell), scientists like Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion), and popular writers like Sam Harris (The End of Faith) have argued that modern science shows that religious faith is fundamentally irrational. This argument has not gone unanswered (for example by Francis Collins in The Language of God and by Pope Benedict XVI, in his Regensburg lecture). This course will examine the relationship between religious faith and reason. We will discuss four positions: (1) reason and faith are in conflict, and it is best to abandon science in favor of faith (religious fundamentalism); (2) reason and faith are in conflict, and it is best to abandon faith in favor of science (scientific atheism); (3) reason and faith do not make cognitive contact, and one can freely choose faith without conflict with reason ("non-overlapping magisteria," fideism); (4) reason and faith do make cognitive contact but are mutually supporting, not in conflict (harmonious compatibilism). We will focus on contemporary debates but also consider their historical roots (for example, Aquinas, Leibniz, Voltaire, Hume, William James). Among the topics to be discussed will be the nature of reason and faith, arguments for and against the existence of God, the problem of evil, evolution and intelligent design, cosmology and the origin of the universe, the rationality of belief in miracles and the supernatural, and evolutionary and neuroscientific explanations of religious belief and religious experience. (B)

The main issues raised by the notion of "Revelation" are quite well-known. First, understood as the "deposit of faith", it has appeared somehow lately in the history of Christian theology; then, it has imposed itself mostly within a highly questionable dichotomy between revealed truths and truths conveyed by reason or nature, a distinction implying by the way the autonomy and primacy of philosophy; last, in its modern interpretation as propositional Revelation missed the hermeneutical and historical dimensions of biblical reports. – What revised concept of "Revelation" could be proposed? – Theologically, one should pay close attention to the fact that, in the New Testament (no matter whether in the Synoptics, Paul or John), apocalypsis refers first and mostly to the dis-covery un-covering the coming Kingdom of God, the musterion tou theou and the final salvation of the believers: therefore that it implies an eschatological event, both coming and yet to come, future oriented much more than a past and everlasting input of information. – Philosophically then, one may focus more on phenomena understood as events, rather than as objects, in order to build a renewed and consistent concept of a phenomenon of revelation in general.

Joseph Soloveitchik was one of the most important philosophers of religion of the twentieth-century.  Firmly rooted in the tradition of Biblical and Talmudic texts and culture, Soloveitchik elaborated a phenomenology of Jewish self-consciousness and religious experience that has significant implications for the philosophy of religion more generally.  This course will consist of a study of some of his major books and essays.  Topics to be covered may include the nature of Halakhic man and Soloveitchik’s philosophical anthropology, the problem of faith in the modern world, questions of suffering, finitude and human emotions, the nature of prayer, the idea of cleaving to God.  Soloveitchik will be studied both from within the Jewish tradition and in the context of the classical questions of the philosophy of religion. (I)

Painting raises philosophical questions, if only because one can wonder why some particular pieces of the overall visible may attract more visual attention than others, which appear nevertheless just besides the former.  In fact, this privilege comes mostly from the radical (although subtle) difference between common law phenomena (objects) and saturated phenomena.  Among them, the two main rival postulations are idol and icon.  Concerning the idol, one may ask what precisely is its function?  How far can it reach the thing itself even more than objective knowledge (the examples of Courbet and Cezanne will be privileged)?  Concerning the icon, one may open the road to theological questions:  how far can the invisible God be aimed at through visible images?  Is iconoclasm the only option?  What theological arguments could support the claim for icons (Nicene Council II)?  Can the concept of icon be extended to other issues than “the icon of the invisible God” (Colossians 1, 15)?

This course will study in alternation chapters from Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed and David Hume's Dialogues concerning Natural Religion, two major philosophical works whose literary forms are at least as important as their contents. Topics will include human knowledge of the existence and nature of God, anthropomorphism and idolatry, religious language, and the problem of evil. Time permitting, we shall also read other short works by these two authors on related themes. (IV) (V)

Vast areas of Anglophone practical philosophy have focused on Aristotle's ethics of late, and some new neo-Aristotelians have turned to work by Thomas Aquinas for help. Our tasks in this seminar will be three: (1) to consider recent work in neo-Aristotelian ethics; (2) to see what contemporary neo-Aristotelians seek in turning to Aquinas; and three, to consider how far Thomistic thought about virtue, happiness, practical reason and practical wisdom are compatible with contemporary neo-Aristotelian practical philosophy more generally. (I) (IV)

How do distinctive elements in the Jewish tradition contribute to more general issues in the philosophy of religion?  We will approach this question through a study of three major twentieth-century Jewish thinkers:  Joseph Soloveitchik, Yeshayahu Leibowitz and Emmanuel Levinas.  Topics to be discussed include the role of practice in religion, the nature of faith, the relations between ethics and law and between religion and politics, prayer and divine service, the status of tradition and sacred texts.  Attention will be given both to debates within the Jewish tradition and to the framework of philosophical and theological issues that characterizes contemporary thought. The course will alternate between lectures and discussions. (I)