Description
Book SynopsisOffers a radical interpretation of the writings of Moses Hess, a nineteenth-century German Jewish intellectual figure who was at times religious and secular, traditional and modern, practical and theoretical, socialist and nationalist. This study contributes to the diverse fields of Jewish history, philosophy, Zionism, and religious studies.
Trade Review"Koltun-Fromm's reading of Hess is of crucial import for those who study the construction of self in the modern world as well as for those who are concerned with Hess and his contributions to modern thought...a reading of Hess that is subtle, judicious, insightful, and well-supported." --David Ellenson
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
1. Hess and Modern Jewish Identity
Hess and Modern Jewish Identity
Categories of Modern Identity
Outline of Chapters
2. Conceptions of Self and Identity in Hess's Early Works and Rome and Jerusalem
Rome and Jerusalem as Socialist and Zionist Manifesto
Conceptions of Self and Identity in Hess's Socialist and Scientific Works
Conceptions of Self and Identity in Rome and Jerusalem
3. Hess's "Return" to Judaism and Narrative Identity
Discontinuity and Resolution in Hess's "Return" to Judaism
The Reading of Hess's "Return" as Resolution
Narrative Identity
4. Inescapable Frameworks: Emotions, Race, and the Rhetoric of Jewish Identity
Evocative Language in Rome and Jerusalem
Spinoza as Model for Passionate Philosophy
Hess's Racial Theory
Inescapable Frameworks
5. Traditions and Scars: Hess's Critique of Reform and Orthodox Judaism
Identity and Difference: Hess's Critique of Bildung and Jewish Reform
Traditions: Race and Scars
Identity and Creativity: Hess's Critique of Jewish Orthodoxy
6.Innocence and Experience in Rome and Jerusalem
Notes
Bibliography
Index
