The Problem of Evil in Jewish Philosophy - Einzelansicht

In a strictly monotheistic view, the existence of evil is a theological problem: If God is one and good and is the source of all reality, what is the source and place of evil? This seminar will explore various approaches to this question that have been proposed throughout the history of Jewish philosophy. We will examine, among others, Maimonides' interpretations of the Book of Job; modern approaches such as Spinoza and Mendelssohn; the twentieth-century Kabbalistic approach of Rav Kook; and views formulated in the second half of the twentieth century in the face of the Holocaust.

Allen, Wayne. Thinking about Good and Evil: Jewish Views from Antiquity to Modernity. University of Nebraska Press, 2021.

Goodman, Lenn E. "Judaism and the Problem of Evil." In The Cambridge Companion to the Problem of Evil, edited by Chad Meister and Paul K. Moser, 193-209. Cambridge Companions to Religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017.

Hoffman, Yair, and Henning Graf Reventlow, eds. The Problem of Evil and Its Symbols in Jewish and Christian Tradition. London: T&T Clark, 2004.

Leaman, Oliver. Evil and Suffering in Jewish Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.

Rosenberg, Shalom. Good and Evil in Jewish Thought. Translated by John Glucker. Jerusalem: The Zalman Shazar Center, 1989.

The following meetings are canceled:

21.10 (Sukkot)

04.11 (Conference)