Description
Book SynopsisA.D. Gordon was one of the most interesting and original Jewish thinkers of the twentieth century.
Quest for Life presents Gordon's philosophy, which was developed in Hebrew at the beginning of the twentieth century, to the English reading public. It discusses the role played by the early Land of Israel pioneering labor community in the development of his thought, and offers a new understanding of its major themes, including: the relation of humanity to nature, human freedom, ethnicity, religion, and ethics. In addition, the book discusses the repercussions of Gordon's thought with respect to contemporary civilization while suggesting its implicit 'quest for life' as the basis for a re-evaluation of such topics as the meaning of human life, Jewish peoplehood and the idea of a Jewish homeland.
Table of Contents
- Part One: Introduction: Historical and Biographical Background
- 1. Introduction
- 2. A Quest for Life: Historical and Biographical Background
- Part Two: Philosophy and Life—Nature, Society, and the Question of Ecological Responsibility
- 3. Gordon's Philosophy as a Response to Kant, Nietzsche, and Marx
- 4. The Foundations of A. D. Gordon's Philosophy of Man in Nature: Life, Self, and Experience
- 5. Critique of Society and Civilization
- 6. Religion, Family, and the Ethic of Ecological Responsibility
- Part Three: Life and Praxis
- 7. The National "Self" in Aḥad Ha'am, Brenner, and Gordon
- 8. Self-Realization as Self-Education
- 9. Freedom and Equality in Gordon's Ideas on the Founding of a Workers' Settlement
- Part Four: National Individuality, Social Justice, and the Prospects of a Universal Humanity
- 10. Zionism and Diaspora Jewry
- 11. Jews and Arabs
- 12. National Individuality as a Condition of Universal Humanity
- Part Five: Conclusion
- 13. A Critical Summary
- Postscript: Contemporary Repercussions
- 14. The Malaise of Modernity: Durkheim and Taylor Versus Dewey
- Bibliography
