Which God will save us? Jewish receptions of Martin Heidegger's philosophy

Thesis

To date, scholars addressing the theme of Martin Heidegger and religion have most often examined his roots in, and impact on, Christianity. With respect to Heidegger and Judaism, critical literature has almost exclusively taken a common perspective: it discusses Heidegger’s view of Jews and the question of his antisemitism and Nazism. The present doctorate dissertation explores Jewish receptions of Heidegger’s philosophy, claiming that from immediately after the publication of Sein und Zeit and throughout the twentieth century, a central prism through which Jewish thinkers read his work was a religious one, and that they engaged with it as a provocation and challenge to Judaism, however constructed. The thesis demonstrates that Heidegger is a key reference point in the negotiation of the boundaries between Judaism, Christianity, and secularism in twentieth century Jewish thought, and that the Jewish responses to his philosophy channel a disillusionment from the political-theological premises of the modern project.

Authors: Herskowitz, D

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-4jqz95ap4
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Keywords: Heidegger; Emmanuel Levinas; Leo Strauss; Buber; Jewish Thought
• Subjects: Philosophy; Modern Judaism; Martin Heidegger; Religion