Language:
English
Year of publication:
2007
Titel der Quelle:
Wrestling with God
Angaben zur Quelle:
(2007) 219-229
Keywords:
Holocaust (Jewish theology)
Abstract:
Discusses historical and philosophical arguments that have been expressed in deliberating the question of the uniqueness of the Shoah, with particular focus on a critique of Emil Fackenheim's views. His assertion of total uniqueness grounds his view of the Shoah as a philosophical event. However, his understanding is ostensibly a classic idealistic view, in the tradition of the German schools of philosophy, when he states that the Shoah disappointed or completely refuted the philosophy that developed in the period preceding it. He engages in overgeneralization which leads him into a philosophical trap. When he calls for a new philosophy, "to mend the world", his argument is grounded on the basic assumptions of the old "groundless" philosophy, the assumption that for every cultural-historical reality there is a spiritual infrastructure defined by a comprehensive worldview, expressed by philosophy at its highest level. Schweid contends that it is necessary to compare the Shoah with other, similar events in order to identify both similarities and differences. He also states that the Shoah must be seen as having happened in reality, and not "on another planet". This is certainly so when the events are examined from a historical perspective, which takes into account the various facets of reality during that time. The Shoah was not an ahistorical event.
Note:
In Hebrew:
,
"עיון" לז,ג-ד (1988-1989) 271-285
URL:
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