The Tragedy of Optimism
Author | : Steven S. Schwarzschild |
Publisher | : SUNY Press |
Total Pages | : 337 |
Release | : 2018-01-29 |
ISBN-10 | : 9781438468358 |
ISBN-13 | : 1438468350 |
Rating | : 4/5 (350 Downloads) |
Download or read book The Tragedy of Optimism written by Steven S. Schwarzschild and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2018-01-29 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Complete collection of Schwarzschilds essays on the neo-Kantian Jewish philosopher Hermann Cohen. Steven S. Schwarzschild (19241989) was arguably the leading expositor of German-Jewish philosopher Hermann Cohen (18421918), undertaking a lifelong effort to reintroduce Cohens thought into contemporary philosophical discourse. In The Tragedy of Optimism, George Y. Kohler brings together all of Schwarzschilds work on Cohen for the first time. Schwarzschilds readings of Cohen are unique and profound; he was conversant with both worlds that shaped Cohens thought, neo-Kantian German idealism and Jewish theology. The collection covers a wide range of subjects, from ethics, socialism, the concept of human selfhood, and the mathematics of the infinite to more explicitly Jewish themes. This volume includes two of Schwarzschilds previously unpublished manuscripts and a scholarly introduction by Kohler. Schwarzschild shows that despite its seeming defeat by events of the twentieth century, Cohens optimism about human progress is a rational, indeed necessary, path to peace. The Tragedy of Optimism gives us excellentperhaps unparalleledinsight into the thought of Hermann Cohen. Although Cohen was one of the most important thinkers in the history of Jewish philosophy, he is often misread or simply ignored. Schwarzschild shows in painstaking fashion why the standard criticisms of Cohen miss the point. What emerges is a picture of Cohen as a more sophisticated thinker than what we usually get in histories of the period. Kenneth Seeskin, author of Autonomy in Jewish Philosophy