COURSE WEBSITE / ONLINE SYLLABUS

Religious Studies 2JP3 / Philosophy 2JP3

INTRODUCTION TO MODERN JEWISH PHILOSOPHY

This course website/online syllabus is located at https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/danahol/2jp3 and is also accessible by way of my home page (see below) and the Dept. of Religious Studies website (https://religiousstudies.mcmaster.ca/). Information about assignments and any scheduling changes will be posted to this online syllabus, announced in class, and/or e-mailed to participants. (Please make sure to keep me up to date about your e-mail addresses!)


CLASS MEETINGS:

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 12:30-1:20 p.m., BSB 117

INSTRUCTOR:  Professor Dana Hollander, Department of Religious Studies, University Hall 113. (905) 525-9140, ext. 24759  danahol@mcmaster.ca  https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/danahol/

Office Hours: Fridays, 2-3 p.m., or by appointment.

Photo by Sebastian Panwitz (used with permission)

updated February 24, 2018


Course Description / Course Readings / Course Requirements   |  ☛ JUMP TO SCHEDULE:  January / February / March / April


COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES

What are "Judaism" and "being Jewish"? What is it to "have" a tradition or an identity?  How can philosophy help us think about these questions?  

What might it mean to speak of "Jewish" philosophy?

What is the relationship of Judaism, as a religious tradition, to morality, or ethics?

We will approach these questions by studying works by 20th-century philosophers including Jean-Paul Sartre, Jean Améry, Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, Emil Fackenheim, Yeshayahu Leibowitz, and Emmanuel Levinas.

(No prior knowledge of Judaism, or prior study in religion or philosophy, is needed in order to do well in this course - only an interest in the above questions, and a willingness to read attentively and engage with the texts.)



COURSE READINGS
Throughout the course and at the exams, you must use your own paper copy of all the primary works we are studying--in the same edition selected for the class (whether in book or xeroxed form). This will allow you to mark your text as you read and to be prepared to refer to specific passages in class and tutorial and when you write the exams.


COURSE REQUIREMENTS
  • One Text Preparation (2-3 pages) - on the assigned readings for the dates specified in the schedule below in conjunction with attendance of the full class session, and to be handed in at the end of the class session on those days. Specific assignments for each week will be posted to this syllabus the week before (see under the due dates).

  • Note: Text Summary/Text Preparation assignments are designed to help you prepare the reading assignment for a particular class meeting, in conjunction with your participation in that class meeting.  For this reason, those assignments may only be submitted by you at the class meetings at which they are due.

  • Midterm Exam and Final Exam will consist of essay questions involving textual analysis.  The essay questions will be made known in advance and the exams will be open-book.

Grades will be based on the following: Text Summary (7%), Text Preparation (15%), Attendance of Class Meetings and Tutorial Sessions (5%), Midterm Exam (33%), Final Exam (40%).

To arrange an academic accommodation for a disability, please contact Student Accessibility Services (SAS), Tel. 905-525-9140 ext. 28652; sas@mcmaster.ca.  Academic accommodations must be arranged for each term of study.


LAPTOPS AND ELECTRONIC DEVICES

You are advised to retain copies of any written work you submit for this class, and all your research notes, until you have received an official grade.



SCHEDULE

At certain points in the course it may make good sense to modify the schedule outlined below. The instructor reserves the right to modify elements of the course and will notify students accordingly (in class, by e-mail to participants, and by updating this online syllabus).

January 5 and 9

INTRODUCTION

Ze'ev Levy, "The Nature of Modern Jewish Philosophy" (1997) in The History of Jewish Philosophy, ed. Frank and Leaman [coursepack]



January 10, 12

Jean-Paul Sartre

Anti-Semite and Jew (1946), trans. George J. Becker [purchase book]: pp. 7-39, 53-80.

Nicholas de Lange, Judaism, 2nd ed. (2003) [purchase book]: Introduction ("What is Judaism?") and chap. 1 ("A People and Its Faith")



January 16

Anti-Semite and Jew: 90-96, 107-9

Text Summary 1 due in class on January 16 from students with last names beginning in A-L.


January 17, 19

Anti-Semite and Jew: 135-41, 148-53.



January 23, 24, 26

Jean Améry

"On the Necessity and Impossibility of Being a Jew" (1966), from At the Mind's Limits, trans. Sidney Rosenfeld and Stella P. Rosenfeld [coursepack]

de Lange, Judaism: chap. 2 ("Torah and Tradition") and chap. 4 ("The Biblical Tradition)

Text Summary 2 due in class on January 24 from students who did not complete Text Summary 1.


Readings on Blackness and Whiteness

Frantz Fanon, selection from "The Fact of Blackness" (from Black Skin, White Masks [1952]) [coursepack]

Original: Peau noire, masques blancs - the selection we are reading is in chapter 5.

James Baldwin, selection from The Fire Next Time (1962) [coursepack] and excerpt from interview with Kenneth Clark (1963) [coursepack/handout]

selection from Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me (2015) [coursepack]

George Yancy, selection from "Introduction: Flipping the Script" in Look, a White! Philosophical Essays on Whiteness (2012); and "Dear White America" (New York Times, December 24, 2015) [coursepack]



January 30, 31, February 2

Jewishness and Whiteness

Karen Brodkin, "How Jews Became White Folks and What That Says About Race in America" (1998) [coursepack]

Robert Bernasconi, "Waking Up White and in Memphis" (2005) [coursepack]

Cynthia Baker, selections from Jew (2017), chap 2: "State of the (Jew[ish]) Question" [coursepack]

de Lange, Judaism: chap. 10 ("Judaism Today")



February 6, 7,*, 13, 14, 16

*NO CLASS ON FEBRUARY 9

Martin Buber

"Renewal of Judaism" (1911) and "Herut: On Youth and Religion" (1919), trans. Eva Jospe, from On Judaism [purchase book]

de Lange, Judaism: chap. 3 ("The Tradition of Worship") and chap. 7 ("The Mystical Tradition")

Text Preparation 1 due in class on February 6 from some students


Midterm Exam Preparation Sheet distributed in class on February 14.


Optional Background Reading/Listening:

S. H. Bergmann and Ephraim Meir, "Buber, Martin" (1972/2007) in Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd ed. [available online to McMaster affiliates]

podcast of Paul Mendes-Flohr speaking about Buber with Alan Saunders on the show "The Philosopher's Zone" (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), on November 4, 2011.



February 27 and 28 - MIDTERM EXAM



March 2, 6, 7, 9

Franz Rosenzweig

selection from "The Builders. Concerning the Law": "Teaching and Law" (1923); and "Divine and Human" (1924) [coursepack]

"'Of Bildung There Is No End'..." (1920) [coursepack]

de Lange, Judaism: chap. 2 ("Torah and Tradition") and chap. 5 ("The Legal Tradition")

Text Preparation 2 due in class on March 2 or March 6 from some students


Optional Background Reading:

Benjamin Pollock, "Franz Rosenzweig" (2009/2014), Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy


March 13, 14, 16

Emil Fackenheim, "Abraham and the Kantians: Moral Duties and Divine Commandments," chap. 2 of Encounters in Jewish Thought and Philosophy (1973) [coursepack]: 33-53

de Lange, Judaism: chap. 6 ("The Ethical Tradition")

Text Preparation 3 due in class on March 13 or March 14 from some students


Background Reading:

selections from Immanuel Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals [coursepack]: details here

Genesis 9: 4, 9

Genesis 22

Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews (1909), vol. 5: "Abraham in Canaan"  (217-20), "The Journey to Moriah" (274-79), "The 'Akedah" (279-86)



March 20

Emmanuel Levinas

"Revelation in the Jewish Tradition" (1977), trans. Gary D. Mole [coursepack]: pp. 129-41 (=secs. I.1-I.4)

de Lange, Judaism, chap. 9 ("The Eschatological Tradition")


Text Preparation 4 due in class on March 20 or March 21 from some students.


Optional Background Reading:

Dana Hollander, "Levinas, Emmanuel," from The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism, 2nd ed., 2005 [available online to McMaster affiliates]

March 21

"Revelation in the Jewish Tradition," cont'd:

  • pp. 141-47 ("...philosophical profession today")
  • pp. 148-50 (=sec. II.3)


"The Temptation of Temptation" (1964), trans. Annette Aronowicz [coursepack]: pp. 32-36

Richard Kearney, "Dialogue with Emmanuel Levinas" (interview published in 1984)


Additional Resources:

"The Talmud" (2013), two-part BBC radio program

A Page of Talmud (website by Eliezer Segal, University of Calgary)



March 23 - DOUBLE SESSION 12:30-2:20 p.m.

Guest Speaker: Rabbi Yonah Lavery-Yisraeli (info here and here)



March 27, 28, April 3, 4

Levinas, "The Temptation of Temptation," cont'd

Yeshayahu Leibowitz

"Religious Praxis: The Meaning of Halakhah" (1953), trans. Eliezer Goldman [coursepack]

de Lange, Judaism: chap. 8 ("The Theological Tradition")


Optional Background Reading:

Daniel Rynhold, "Yeshayahu Leibowitz" (2011), Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Text Preparation 5 due in class on April 3 from anyone who has not handed in a Text Preparation.

Final Exam Preparation Sheet to be distributed in class on April 4




April 6

No Class


FINAL EXAM - date and time TBA

SYLLABUS STATEMENTS REQUIRED BY McMASTER UNIVERSITY

McMaster University has a strict policy concerning Academic Integrity: "You are expected to exhibit honesty and use ethical behaviour in all aspects of the learning process.  Academic credentials you earn are rooted in principles of honesty and academic integrity. Academic dishonesty is to knowingly act or fail to act in a way that results or could result in unearned academic credit or advantage. This behaviour can result in serious consequences, e.g. the grade of zero on an assignment, loss of credit with a notation on the transcript (notation reads: "Grade of F assigned for academic dishonesty"), and/or suspension or expulsion from the university.

It is your responsibility to understand what constitutes academic dishonesty.  For information on the various types of academic dishonesty please refer to the Academic Integrity Policy, specifically Appendix 3.

The following illustrates only three forms of academic dishonesty: 1. Plagiarism, e.g., the submission of work that is not one's own or for which other credit has been obtained. 2. Improper collaboration in group work. 3. Copying or using unauthorized aids in tests and examinations."

Please let me know if you have any questions on how this policy applies to your work for this course.

Privacy of Information. Some of the communications among the instructor and the students in this course will be over e-mail. Students should be aware that, when they access the electronic components of this course, private information such as first and last names and e-mail addresses may become apparent to all other students in the same course. Continuation in this course will be deemed consent to this disclosure. If you have any questions or concerns about such disclosure please discuss this with the course instructor.

Copyright © Dana Hollander