Traditionalism and Rationalism in Jewish Philosophy
Loading...
Date
2012
Authors
Dymerets, Rostyslav
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
In this paper, an attempt is made to define characteristic features of philosophical traditionalism and rationalism as well as to analyze some characteristic examples of their paradigmatic appearance in certain pieces of Jewish
philosophical thought, in particular, Talmud, Philo of Alexandria, and Saadia
Gaon.
The paper shows that the structure of Jewish philosophical thought is built
up not on the basis of a derivation concept or that of predication of meanings
to the subjects different from those the meanings were abstracted from, but
on that of implementation of double-sided articulation of names: on the side
of the Creator, in the revealed Scripture and in the world of things which
designate and penetrate human existence. On the side of humans, this appears
in their appealing to the Creator in their ritual-articulation actions to which
each human expression is in a way related. Via such an expression a human
gives back to God that part of what she or he was able to take from Him and,
therefore, is able to return, designating each time this very ability of him or
her by an adequate personal attitude towards Him to Whom she or he thus
appeals. This structure is based not on sensible entities which pure rationalists would lay, as a priori elements, into the basis of a derivation system from
which those entities afterwards, by applying methods of abstraction and
generalization, can be reduced to the status of ontological entities, but on
appealing to the higher source of all the creatures which can reach the source
just by precise reconstruction of the structure of God’s creation represented
by different symbolic articulations-events which revealing is comprehended
in works of Jewish philosophy.
Description
Keywords
traditionalism, rationalism, philosophy, Jews, jewish philosophy, article
Citation
Dymerets R. Traditionalism and Rationalism in Jewish Philosophy / Rostyslav Dymerets // Judaica Ukrainica : Annual Journal of Jewish Studies. - 2012. - Vol. 1. - P. 49-69.