010076 SE "God of the Poor": Philosophy of Religion from the sources of Judaism (2024W)

Shortly after the Second World War, Karl Jaspers placed the prophets of ancient Israel on a par with the philosophies of India, China and Greece in his theory of the Axis Era. However, Jewish religious philosophy had already turned to the legacy of the prophets in the early 20th century. Herman Cohen, one of the great figures of neo-Kantianism, sees the tradition of the prophets, in which "God of the poor" is proclaimed, as the center of the Jewish religion, which is also a religion of reason. Henri Bergson, a main representative of the philosophy of life, also acknowledged the prophets as representatives of an active mysticism in his late philosophy of religion. Franz Rosenzweig and Emmanuel Lévinas subsequently continued the philosophical reinterpretation of the prophets of Israel in a creative way. In Latin America, since the late 1960s, the theologies and philosophies of liberation - partly under the direct influence of Lévinas - have placed the social critique of the prophets and the biblical exodus narrative at the center of their post- or de-colonial discourse. In addition, Latin American liberation thinking has uncovered prophetic traditions in colonial criticism since the 16th century (Las Casas, Poma de Ayala). Enrique Dussel has presented a reformulation of Kant's categorical imperative under the heading "liberation of the poor".
More recently, however, the Exodus narrative has come under fire from critics as part of the debate on "monotheism and violence" initiated by Jan Assmann.
In this seminar, the topic of "The God of the Poor" will be addressed through a reading of selected texts from prominent 20th century philosophies of religion.
Joint reading with discussion, presentations, written commentaries, seminar paper.