Contemporary Jewish Philosophies

Here is a systematic critique of the theological and philosophical views of the major Jewish thinkers of the 20th century. The pattern of the book is one of challenge and response, with the purpose of activating the mind of the reader to the vital issues of Jewish theology in our own time. New forms of Jewish philosophic inquiry in response to the Holocaust, the American Jewish experience, and the establishment of the state of Israel, makes necessary a clear and comprehensive framework in which contemporary Jewish thought may be studied. Kaufman traces the effects of this new stage of philosophical thinking through the writings of such luminaries as Franz Rosenzweig, Martin Buber, Leo Baeck, and Mordecai Kaplan, as well as seeking the sources of the thought of such contemporary figures as Emil Fackenheim, Jacob Agus, Arthur Cohen, Eugene Borowitz, Richard Rubenstein, and Abraham Joshua Heschel in the traditional roots of covenant, salvation, and transcendence.