In the Time of the Nations

by Levinas, Emmanuel; Smith, Michael B.

• ISBN13: 9780253332950
• ISBN10: 0253332958
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1994-12-01
• Publisher: Indiana Univ Pr

Summary

The 'nations' of the title are the 'seventy nations': in the Talmudic idiom, the whole of humanity surrounding Israel. In this major collection of essays, Levinas considers Judaism's uncertain relationship to European culture since the Enlightenment, problems of distance and integration. It also includes five Talmudic readings from between 1981 and 1986, essays on Franz Rosenzweig and Moses Mendelssohn, and a discussion with Francoise Armengaud which raises questions of central importance to Jewish philosophy in the context of general philosophy. This work brings to the fore the vital encounter between philosophy and Judaism, a hallmark of Levinas's thought.

Table of Contents

Translator's Note
Glossary of Hebrew Terms
Author's Foreword	p. 1
For a Place in the Bible	p. 11
The Translation of the Scripture	p. 33
Contempt for the Torah as Idolatry	p. 55
Beyond Memory	p. 76
The Nations and the Presence of Israel	p. 92
From Ethics to Exegesis	p. 109
Judaism and Kenosis	p. 114
The Bible and the Greeks	p. 133
Moses Mendelssohn's Thought	p. 136
A Figure and a Period	p. 146
The Philosophy of Franz Rosenzweig	p. 150
Judaism and Christianity	p. 161
On Jewish Philosophy	p. 167
Notes	p. 184
General Index	p. 191
Index of Biblical Passages	p. 196
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