Hello and welcome to my Jewish Philosophers blog! Over the past week it struck me that in researching Spinoza, I inevitably come across other Jewish philosophers, and people tend to compare and contrast them to him. But an extended discussion of them is too much of a digression for my Spinoza blog so anything that expands into this field will come on here. My Spinoza Research blog, complete with three of my open access ebooks on it, is available at:
https://myspinozaresearchdiary.blogspot.com/
Not only is Spinoza a Jewish philosopher but I also have a strongly Jewish interpretation of him, which I'm sure shocks all Spinozists! 😱🤷
Also, I can't help thinking that Spinoza is sticking out on his own in my research portfolio as a Jewish philosopher so I thought he needs to be put into a context. He needs the company of other Jewish philosophers (religious or not).
Furthermore, I have already looked at other Jewish philosophers for many years, two of which I put forward as PhD proposals, namely Arendt and Adorno. Indeed, I have written a short essay on Arendt which I wrote back in Autumn 2013. It's available on my academia.edu page, under the subheading, Essays:
So this blog gives me a chance to expand on Arendt. And Adorno (in relation to the Holocaust) who I have already discussed on my Empathy blog:
https://theroleofempathyinourlives.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-instinct-and-emotion-of-empathy.html
In addition, I was taught Marx at uni for my BA Degree (and for A Level Sociology) and therefore have been reading and thinking about Marx for 17 years, on and off. Here's my uni essay I wrote on him:
I can't help feeling that people are misunderstanding him, rather as they do Spinoza. The word 'Marx' and 'Marxism' has become somewhat of an abusive term in society and politics, which in itself is anti-Semitic. I think he'd be shocked if he saw the way his philosophy turned into something completely alien and opposite to his system of thought, namely Communism in Eastern Europe in the 20th century and the ideology surrounding it, especially since he didn't believe in creating and believing in ideologies. I am also appalled by the constant attempt to Christianize Jewish philosophers, even the dead ones! Yes Marx's family had to, like all Jews in Germany in that era, become Christians in order to survive, even just to be employed, but that doesn't mean anything. Just like the conversos previously, that simply means you lead a Jewish life quietly at home. If you read the biography 'Eleanor Marx: A Life' by Rachel Holmes (2014), you have a very different picture of Marx than the one that is normally portrayed. He was a very sweet family man. Karl Marx's daughter, Eleanor Marx, is also, like her father, a very dynamic figure who was well-known for her role and hands-on contribution to trade unionism, the aim of which was to improve working conditions for the exploited lower-classes at that time.
And then there's my chapter in my first book on Margaret Cavendish, in which I make use of the Jewish philosopher and logician, Saul Kripke (who was also part of my uni degree, but he didn't come up in the exam, much to my disappointment). So he's somebody I may wish to extend a little bit but it wouldn't be relevant to do so on my Cavendish blog. Here's the chapter:
I'm addition, there's Singer and Chomsky, both of whom are still living and were part of my uni degree. The former has done a great deal on ethics and sentient beings, and I wrote a 1st year essay on him. The latter is more into politics, although he teaches linguistics. 🤔 I included him in my final year essay because he was listed in the set reading so I thought I could write about his views there. But no! In the comments from the marker, it was suggested I put in Geuss not Chomsky. So when I extended the essay as part of my final year coursework, I switched the two around and it was rewarded with a First. 🤷It wasn't any better than the first essay, possibly less original - so much for all this posing about academic freedom! 🙄
The tutorial essay (written prior to the tutorial):
The coursework essay:
And then there's Jewish philosophers I come across in passing but again they don't fit neatly anywhere on my other philosophy blogs. I also thought it would be easier to group them together for a more cohesive approach.
This is more of a discussion blog, where I jot down my thoughts about something these philosophers have written, and it would be great if people joined in the discussion. People are very passionate (although mostly not in a good way!) about Marx so I'll find it incredible if nobody has anything to say in the comments section in response to my future blog posts on him! 😏
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