Moses Mendelssohn

by Gottlieb, Michah; Bowman, Curtis; Sacks, Elias; Arkush, Allan

• ISBN13: 9781584656852
• ISBN10: 1584656859
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-10-11
• Publisher: Brandeis Univ

Summary

German Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786) is best known in the English-speaking world for his Jerusalem (1783), the first attempt to present Judaism as a religion compatible with the ideas of the Enlightenment. While incorporating much of Jerusalem, Michah Gottlieb's volume seeks to expand knowledge of Mendelssohn's thought by presenting translations of many of his other seminal writings from the German or Hebrew originals. These writings include essays, commentaries, unpublished reflections, and personal letters. Part One includes selections from the three major controversies of Mendelssohn's life, all of which involved polemical encounters with Christian thinkers. Part Two presents selections from Mendelssohn's writings on the Bible. Part Three offers texts that illuminate Mendelssohn's thoughts on a diverse range of religious topics, including God's existence, the immortality of the soul, and miracles. Designed for class adoption, the volume contains annotations and an introduction by the editor.

Author Biography

Michah Gottlieb is an assistant professor in the Skirball DePartment of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, New York University.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Introduction: Moses Mendelssohn and the Project of Modern Jewish Philosophy	p. xi
Polemical Writings
The Lavater Affair and Related Documents (1769-1773)
Prefatory Note to Selections 1, 2 & 3	p. 3
Lavater's Dedication	p. 5
Open Letter to Lavater	p. 6
From "Counter-Reflections to Bonnet's Palingenesis"	p. 16
Prefatory Note to Selection 4	p. 31
Letter to Rabbi Jacob Emden,26 October 1773	p. 32
Prefatory Note to Selection 5	p. 36
Letter to "a Man of Rank" (Rochus Friedrich Graf von Lynar)	p. 37
Jerusalem and Related Documents (1782-1783)
Prefatory Note to Selection 6	p. 39
From the Preface to Vindiciae Judaeorum	p. 40
Prefatory Note to Selections 7 & 8	p. 53
"The Search for Light and Right"	p. 55
Morschel's Postscript	p. 68
Prefatory Note to Selections 9 & 10	p. 70
From Jerusalem, or on Religious Power and Judaism	p. 72
From Letter to Naphtali Herz Homberg	p. 124
The Pantheism Controversy (1785-1786)
Prefatory Note to Selection 11	p. 125
From Jacobi's On the Doctrine of Spinoza	p. 127
Prefatory Note to Selections 12 & 13	p. 140
From Morning Hours	p. 142
From To Lessing's Friends	p. 153
Writings on the Bible
Prefatory Note to Selection 14	p. 175
From Introduction to Commentary on Ecclesiastes	p. 176
Prefatory Note to Selection 15	p. 182
Introduction to Translation of Psalms	p. 183
Prefatory Note to Selections 16 & 17	p. 185
From Letter to August Hennings, 29 June 1779	p. 187
From Light for the Path	p. 189
Prefatory Note to Selection 18	p. 202
Selections from the Bi'ur	p. 205
On Peshat and Derash
Lex Talionis
On Adam's Sin
On Biblical Poetry
The Eternal
On Commanding Belief In God, Jewish Election, and Idolatry
On Divine Jealousy
On Kingship
Miscellany
Prefatory Note to Selections 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, & 25	p. 233
On the Religious Legitimacy of Studying Logic	p. 235
An Ontological Proof for God's Existence	p. 241
A Cosmological Proof for God's Existence	p. 243
A Proof for the Immortality of the Soul	p. 246
A Rational Foundation for Ethics	p. 249
On the Possibility of Miracles	p. 252
On the Reliability of Miracles	p. 255
Suggestions for Further Reading	p. 257
Index	p. 259
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