BA Religions, Theology and Ethics / Course details

The course introduces students to the philosophical study of the Jewish religious and non-religious tradition from historical and contemporary points of view. We ask: What are some of the philosophical concepts that have been used to understand the personal God of history whom the Hebrew Bible presents? What role does embodiment and gendering play for the divine figure and for humans? How can one understand as revelation a fixed text, the Hebrew Bible, whose meaning appears to change over time? What can one make of the idea of a creator God giving specific commandments to one people, and how is that connected to an ethics relevant to all humanity? In what sense is there a historical or religious identity of the Jewish people and what does it mean today, in particular after the Holocaust? What is the relationship between the validity of philosophical arguments on the one hand, and arguments from authority or revelation on the other?

• To introduce students to the philosophical study of the Jewish religious and non-religious tradition from historical and contemporary points of view
• To explore Jewish philosophy thematically through topics such as the Body, Creation and Gender; notions of Time and History; Language and Revelation; and Society, Ethics and Commandments

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• critically distinguish key periods and groups of sources among philosophies of Judaism
• appreciate the variety of philosophical approaches to topics in Jewish tradition
• critically explain, and assess the strength of, central philosophical arguments in selected thinkers of Judaism and Jewishness
• make critical use of secondary sources on philosophy

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• effectively express ideas and deliver appropriate and accurate information about Jewish philosophy
• recognise different perspectives while assessing critically the evidence for positions and arguments
• manage their own academic development, including reflecting on progress and taking appropriate action
• find, evaluate and summarise technical information from a variety of sources

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• take effective notes during lectures
• plan their time effectively
• use internet and physical information resources with confidence

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• communicate clearly in written and oral forms
• participate appropriately in a learning group
• demonstrate enhanced aptitude for independent work
• demonstrate enhanced aptitude for self-motivation

• Frank, D. H. and O. Leaman (eds.), History of Jewish Philosophy (London: Routledge 1997)
• Frank, D., O. Leaman and C. Manekin (eds.), The Jewish Philosophy Reader (London: Routledge, 2000)
• Kavka, M., D. Novak and Z. Braiterman (eds.), The Cambridge History of Jewish Philosophy, volume 2: The Modern Era (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2012)
• Nadler, S. and T. M. Rudavsky (eds.), The Cambridge History of Jewish Philosophy. From Antiquity through the Seventeenth Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008)