Elad Lapidot - Böcker

State of Others: Levinas and Decolonial Israel explores the relations between post-Holocaust Jewish thought and postcolonial thought through the work of Emmanuel Levinas. In the last decade, thinkers have criticized Levinas for his Eurocentrism; however, author Elad Lapidot argues that Levinas anticipated this critique and, from the 1960s onward, began setting the foundations for decolonial Jewish thought - and for decolonial Zionism.State of Others offers an innovative analysis of Levinas's intellectual project as articulated around a turn in the year 1968. This turn relates to the relationship between Judaism and Western civilization. Prior to 1968, Levinas considered the historical Jewish collective, Israel, as the avant-garde of Western humanism. After 1968, with the rise of decolonial discourse, Levinas's concept of Israel shifts roles and becomes the paradigmatic victim of Western imperialism.State of Others demonstrates how Levinas simultaneously developed his dual narratives - before and after the pivotal year of 1968 - across his philosophical and Jewish writings, with a special emphasis on the Talmudic Readings. It presents for the first time a cohesive overview of Levinas's writings, both early and late, as interconnected components of a singular intellectual endeavor. The ethical principles concerning the other, as articulated by Levinas, are conceptually linked to his reflections on the State of Israel.

State of Others: Levinas and Decolonial Israel explores the relations between post-Holocaust Jewish thought and postcolonial thought through the work of Emmanuel Levinas. In the last decade, thinkers have criticized Levinas for his Eurocentrism; however, author Elad Lapidot argues that Levinas anticipated this critique and, from the 1960s onward, began setting the foundations for decolonial Jewish thought - and for decolonial Zionism.State of Others offers an innovative analysis of Levinas's intellectual project as articulated around a turn in the year 1968. This turn relates to the relationship between Judaism and Western civilization. Prior to 1968, Levinas considered the historical Jewish collective, Israel, as the avant-garde of Western humanism. After 1968, with the rise of decolonial discourse, Levinas's concept of Israel shifts roles and becomes the paradigmatic victim of Western imperialism.State of Others demonstrates how Levinas simultaneously developed his dual narratives - before and after the pivotal year of 1968 - across his philosophical and Jewish writings, with a special emphasis on the Talmudic Readings. It presents for the first time a cohesive overview of Levinas's writings, both early and late, as interconnected components of a singular intellectual endeavor. The ethical principles concerning the other, as articulated by Levinas, are conceptually linked to his reflections on the State of Israel.

This book offers new perspectives on the early and formative years of the German-Jewish philosopher Hans Jonas, through innovative studies of his German and Hebrew work in pre-war Germany and Palestine.Covering all facets of Jonas’s early work, the book brings together leading scholars to explore key conceptual, historical, genealogical, and biographical contexts. Some of the main topics examined include his deep intellectual history of Western thought and its origins in late antiquity through the category of Gnosis, the intellectual influence of Heidegger, Bultmann, Husserl, and Spengler, his relation to Christian theology, and his interest in Judaism and Zionism. Existing research on his early work is not only limited in size but also often methodologically deficient, for it is common to interpret the early in light of the late and as teleologically leading to it. By introducing new materials and addressing new questions, this book offers innovative perspectives on Jonas’s intellectual project as a whole and provides a historical and conceptual foundation for further scholarly explorations of his oeuvre.Providing fresh insights into the work of one of the twentieth century’s most influential philosophers, the book will appeal to students and researchers working in intellectual history, Jewish studies, and religion.

This book offers new perspectives on the early and formative years of the German-Jewish philosopher Hans Jonas, through innovative studies of his German and Hebrew work in pre-war Germany and Palestine.Covering all facets of Jonas’s early work, the book brings together leading scholars to explore key conceptual, historical, genealogical, and biographical contexts. Some of the main topics examined include his deep intellectual history of Western thought and its origins in late antiquity through the category of Gnosis, the intellectual influence of Heidegger, Bultmann, Husserl, and Spengler, his relation to Christian theology, and his interest in Judaism and Zionism. Existing research on his early work is not only limited in size but also often methodologically deficient, for it is common to interpret the early in light of the late and as teleologically leading to it. By introducing new materials and addressing new questions, this book offers innovative perspectives on Jonas’s intellectual project as a whole and provides a historical and conceptual foundation for further scholarly explorations of his oeuvre.Providing fresh insights into the work of one of the twentieth century’s most influential philosophers, the book will appeal to students and researchers working in intellectual history, Jewish studies, and religion.

A provocative study of opposition to anti-Semitism in contemporary political philosophy.In post-Holocaust philosophy, anti-Semitism has come to be seen as a paradigmatic political and ideological evil. Jews Out of the Question examines the role that opposition to anti-Semitism has played in shaping contemporary political philosophy. Elad Lapidot argues that post-Holocaust philosophy identifies the fundamental, epistemological evil of anti-Semitic thought not in thinking against Jews, but in thinking of Jews. In other words, what philosophy denounces as anti-Semitic is the figure of "the Jew" in thought. Lapidot reveals how, paradoxically, opposition to anti-Semitism has generated a rejection of Jewish thought in post-Holocaust philosophy. Through critical readings of political philosophers such as Adorno, Horkheimer, Sartre, Arendt, Badiou, and Nancy, the book contends that by rejecting Jewish thought, the opposition to anti-Semitism comes dangerously close to anti-Semitism itself, and at work in this rejection, is a problematic understanding of the relations between politics and thought-a troubling political epistemology. Lapidot's critique of this political epistemology is the book's ultimate aim.

A provocative study of opposition to anti-Semitism in contemporary political philosophy.In post-Holocaust philosophy, anti-Semitism has come to be seen as a paradigmatic political and ideological evil. Jews Out of the Question examines the role that opposition to anti-Semitism has played in shaping contemporary political philosophy. Elad Lapidot argues that post-Holocaust philosophy identifies the fundamental, epistemological evil of anti-Semitic thought not in thinking against Jews, but in thinking of Jews. In other words, what philosophy denounces as anti-Semitic is the figure of "the Jew" in thought. Lapidot reveals how, paradoxically, opposition to anti-Semitism has generated a rejection of Jewish thought in post-Holocaust philosophy. Through critical readings of political philosophers such as Adorno, Horkheimer, Sartre, Arendt, Badiou, and Nancy, the book contends that by rejecting Jewish thought, the opposition to anti-Semitism comes dangerously close to anti-Semitism itself, and at work in this rejection, is a problematic understanding of the relations between politics and thought-a troubling political epistemology. Lapidot's critique of this political epistemology is the book's ultimate aim.

Once a prophet of critical, “other” thought, Heidegger has now for many become the epitome of the unthinkable, in the light of the Black Notebooks controversy. The unthinkable here is anti-Semitism. The encounter between Heidegger and the Jews has thus come to signify – very much in the spirit of Heidegger’s own anti-Judaism – the end of thought. The present volume resists this view by positing not only Heidegger but also the Jewish people as representing thought. The encounter between Heidegger and various traditions of Jewish thought is conceived here as a conversation inter alia, an exchange between real or perceived “others”: others to the philosophical tradition, to mainstream modernity, to Western Christian metaphysics, to each other, and even to themselves. The conversation takes shape in this volume as a symposium of seventeen essays by leading scholars both of Heidegger’s philosophy and of Jewish Studies.

Once a prophet of critical, “other” thought, Heidegger has now for many become the epitome of the unthinkable, in the light of the Black Notebooks controversy. The unthinkable here is anti-Semitism. The encounter between Heidegger and the Jews has thus come to signify – very much in the spirit of Heidegger’s own anti-Judaism – the end of thought. The present volume resists this view by positing not only Heidegger but also the Jewish people as representing thought. The encounter between Heidegger and various traditions of Jewish thought is conceived here as a conversation inter alia, an exchange between real or perceived “others”: others to the philosophical tradition, to mainstream modernity, to Western Christian metaphysics, to each other, and even to themselves. The conversation takes shape in this volume as a symposium of seventeen essays by leading scholars both of Heidegger’s philosophy and of Jewish Studies.

In contrast to the common understanding of politics as a domain of speaking, reveals an alternative tradition where the spoken word fails, collapses, breaks (i.e., a politics of not speaking).According to a common conception, modern politics is based on speaking, on discussion and rational argumentation-on "logos." In contrast, The Politics of Not Speaking argues that politics is based not on speaking but on the suspension of conversation, on the break of rational discourse, on "logoclasm"-on politics of not speaking. Elad Lapidot presents the notion of politics as logoclasm through readings of five canonic thinkers of the twentieth century: Carl Schmitt, Martin Heidegger, Frantz Fanon, Gayatri Spivak, and Jacques Derrida. Tracing the development of the politics of not speaking from the 1930s to the 1990s, he shows how the notion of logoclasm, the rupture of rational discussion, explains key notions in modern politics, such as sovereignty, law, the state, violence, war, race, colonialism, decolonization, and boycott, and sheds light on current debates concerning the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and the Gaza war.