Jewish Thought in Dialogue Essays on Thinkers, Theologies and Moral Theories [Hardcover]

This carefully crafted collection of essays, Jewish Thought in Dialogue, offers creative interpretations of major Jewish texts and as well as original treatments of significant issues in Jewish theology and ethics. The collection includes philosophical readings of biblical narratives, analyses of topics in the thought of Maimonides, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook and Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, and critical and constructive examinations of divine providence, religious anthropology, free will, 9/11, evil, Halakhah and morality, altruism, autonomy in Jewish medical ethics, and the epistemology of religious belief. The author frequently brings Jewish philosophy and law into dialogue with contemporary Anglo-American philosophy. The book serves scholars and students of Jewish philosophy and law and is suitable for inclusion in syllabi of undergraduate and graduate courses. David Shatz's essays show us how, in the hands of a master, the analytic tools of Anglo-American philosophy can clarify and critically articulate the conceptual foundations of Judaism, and how Halakhic and philosophical texts and discussions in the rabbinic tradition can enrich our understanding of classical philosophical problems. These essays are constantly enlightening, closely argued and written with wit and insight. I learn from everything David Shatz writes. Shatz (philosophy, Yeshiva University) has collected and edited several of his essays, published between 1990 and 2004. His underlying theme is the connection of Jewish philosophy and ethics to events and ideas of the gentile world. He commences with the earliest source, the book of Genesis reflecting on the moral dilemmas posed in the beginning. He then discusses the most influential of the medieval thinkers, Maimonides, before moving to twentieth century philosophers and Halakhic scholars, R. Abraham Isaac Kook and R. Joseph B. Soloveichik. The views of these two men recur in later essays on religion and science as well as ethics and law. The l£?