Throughout history, the Jewish people have stood at the crossroads between two remarkable intellectual traditions. The Department of Philosophy and Jewish Thought integrates the study of the great ideas of both the Jewish and Western civilizations to show how each has enriched the other. It also encourages a nuanced examination of modern Israeli and Jewish identities, and of the mutual—and fertile—tension between them.
By emphasizing the essential role of well-developed and defended ideas in society’s progress, students learn how movements begin with arguments, and how arguments now considered obvious were once seen as radical in nature. In turn, this knowledge empowers them to imagine—and advance—a better society.
Whether through the study of analytical philosophy, epistemology, or the philosophy of Jewish law, the Department of Philosophy and Jewish Thought cultivates self-critical students, as willing to examine their own opinions as to listen to those of others.
Key doctrines from Aristotle to Emmanuel Kant, with an emphasis on those positions that deny moral relativity.
The theological and legal foundations of Jewish political theory, and their theoretical and historical sources of influence.
An analysis of the complex and ever-changing relationship between science and human culture, society, and history.
How Spinoza, Mendelsohn, Rosenzweig, and Levinas dealt with the challenge of history, modernity, and Western philosophy.
An exploration of what we know, how we know it, and whether we can truly know anything—and why we can live with that.
A close reading of the work that, more than any other, influenced Jewish thought from the Middle Ages to the present day.
The unique language, concepts, and mythologies of the most important Jewish mystical work of the Middle Ages.
The key works of the German philosophers whose ideas are linked to the revolutionary politics of the Enlightenment.
In the Mishnaic tractate Ethics of the Fathers, a disciple of the great sage Hillel said to “turn the Torah over and over, because everything is in it.” That, perhaps more than anything, is the lesson that Hebrew Bible scholar Dr. Hillel Mali seeks to teach students.
In naming their study group the Nordau Seminar, Shalem freshmen Uri Schneider and Ilay Yunayev concede that they were choosing one of the lesser known of the figures associated with the Zionist movement, at least among Israelis today. As a symbol of the unique blend of values that animate the group’s aims, however, there was no one better than the Hungarian journalist, physician, and co-founder, with Theodor Herzl, of the World Zionist Congress.
Mordy Miller ’18 is the next subject of “Grad Pride,” a video series that follows our alumni as they contribute to their country and people…
Sign up for our digital newsletter to get high-quality, relevant, and reasonably spaced updates on our impact on the Jewish state.
What could be better than that?