The Rationale Of Halakhic Man

This book is an analysis of the thought of Joseph B. Soloveitchik (1903-1993). The analysis focuses on Soloveitchik's notion of transcendence as articulated in his doctoral thesis on Hermann Cohen and in three of his essays on halakhic thought, viz., 'The Halakhic Mind', and the Hebrew essays 'Ish ha-halakha' and 'U-viqqashtem mi-sham'.

This book is an analysis of the thought of Joseph B. Soloveitchik (1903-1993). The analysis focuses on Soloveitchik's notion of transcendence as articulated in his doctoral thesis on Hermann Cohen and in three of his essays on halakhic thought, viz., 'The Halakhic Mind', and the Hebrew essays 'Ish ha-halakha' and 'U-viqqashtem mi-sham'.

The 40th Anniversary Edition of Halakhic Man is the classic work of modern Jewish and religious thought by the twentieth century's preeminent Orthodox Jewish theologian and talmudic scholar, newly accompanied by scholarly apparatus that will help readers better appreciate the work.

Halakhic Man--originally published in Hebrew in 1944 and appearing for the first time in English translation--is considered to be Rabbi Soloveitchik's most important statement. A unique, almost unclassifiable work, its pages include a brilliant exposition of Mitnaggedism, of Lithuanian religiosity, with its emphasis on Talmudism; a profound excursion into religious psychology and phenomenology; a pioneering attempt at a philosophy of Halakhah; a stringent critique of mysticism and romantic religion--all held together by the force of the author's highly personal vision. Exuding intellectual sophistication and touching upon issues fundamental to religious life, Rabbi Soloveitchik's exploration, in sum, seeks to explain the inner world of the Talmudist--or as he is referred to typologically, halakhic man--in terms drawn from Western culture. This book brings to the English-reading world a significant work by one of the most profound Jewish thinkers of this century.

This book focuses on the first stages of Soloveitchik’s philosophy, through a systematic and detailed discussion of his essay Halakhic Man. Schwartz successfully exposes hidden layers in Halakhic Man, which may not be immediately evident.

Critique of Halakhic Reason challenges prevalent ways of thinking about religion by revealing how religious traditions and communities reason about their practices. It examines the reasoning operative in the justification and jurisprudence of the Jewish commandments through fresh studies of twentieth century Jewish thinkers. It then constructs a novel account of the relation between Jewish thought and law in view of contemporary moral philosophy and legal theory. It then develops its consequences for theology, the study and philosophy of religion, as well as for moral, legal, and political philosophy.

In a work that illustrates how Jewish philosophy can make a genuine contribution to general philosophical debate, Daniel Rynhold attempts to formulate a model for the justification of practices by applying the methods of modern analytic philosophy to approaches to the rationalization of the commandments from the history of Jewish philosophy. Through critical analysis of the methods of Moses Maimonides and Joseph Soloveitchik, Rynhold argues against propositional approaches to justifying practices that he terms Priority of Theory approaches and offers instead his own method, termed the Priority of Practice, which emphasizes the need for a more pragmatic take on this whole issue.

Modern Jewish philosophy emerged in the seventeenth century, with the impact of the new science and modern philosophy on thinkers who were reflecting upon the nature of Judaism and Jewish life. This collection of essays examines the work of several of the most important of these figures, from the seventeenth to the late-twentieth centuries, and addresses themes central to the tradition of modern Jewish philosophy: language and revelation, autonomy and authority, the problem of evil, messianism, the influence of Kant, and feminism. Included are essays on Spinoza, Mendelssohn, Cohen, Buber, Rosenzweig, Fackenheim, Soloveitchik, Strauss, and Levinas. Other thinkers discussed include Maimon, Benjamin, Derrida, Scholem, and Arendt. The sixteen original essays are written by a world-renowned group of scholars especially for this volume and give a broad and rich picture of the tradition of modern Jewish philosophy over a period of four centuries.