Full Description
Salomon Munk (1803-1867) belonged to a group of German-Jewish scholars who pioneered the systematic study of Arabic, Judeo-Arabic and Islamic philosophy in Western Europe in the nineteenth century, as part of a movement that came to be known as the Science of Judaism. The Science of Judaism applied the tools of modern science (in particular philology) to the study of Judaism, seeking to shed light on its manifold aspects and historical contexts—an undertaking which eventually led to the birth of Jewish studies as an academic discipline. Munk's ground-breaking studies of Arabic and Judeo-Arabic sources were to play a central role in this process, exerting a major influence on nineteenth century German and French Oriental studies as well as on modern philosophical historiography, and paving the way for the scientific study of the relationship between medieval Jewish, Islamic, and Christian thought. This book is an attempt to restore this extraordinary representative of German Jewry to the pantheon of the Science of Judaism, and in the process, to illustrate the fascinating origins of the academic field of Jewish and Islamic Studies.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Salomon Munk (1803-1867): His Life and Work
1.1. From Glogau to Berlin, 1803-1824: Munk, Philology, and the Science of Judaism
1.2. From Berlin to Paris, 1824-1828: Munk and the Development of Oriental Studies in France
1.3. A Journey to the Orient: Munk and the Damascus Affair
1.4. Back in Paris, 1841-1846: Franck's Historical-Critical Dictionary of Philosophy
1.5. Munk's Blindness
1.6. "A simple grammar course": Munk at the Collège de France
1.7. Munk in the Eyes of His Contemporaries: Philologist, Historian of Philosophy, and Philosopher of Religion
1.8. Munk's Legacy
2. Salomon Munk and the Problem of Jewish Philosophy
2.1. Philosophy in Three Languages: Jewish Philosophy, Christian Thought, and Islamic Sources in Munk's Mélanges de philosophie juive et arabe
2.2. Judaism and Neoplatonism in the Mekor Hayyim: Munk's Analysis of Ibn Gabirol's Attempt to Reconcile Philosophy and Jewish Theology
2.3. Judaism and Philosophy in Munk's Esquisse historique de la philosophie chez les juifs
2.4. Before Munk's Guide des égarés: Previous Translations of Maimonides's Guide of the Perplexed
2.5. An Impossible Synthesis: Munk's Translation of the Guide of the Perplexed
2.6. A Critique of Speculative Philosophy: Munk, the Science of Judaism, and Hegel's History of Philosophy
2.7. Islamici nihil a me alienum puto: Munk versus the German Orientalists and Historians of Philosophy
2.8. Munk's Review of Heinrich Ritter's History of Philosophy
2.9. Munk's Seminal Contribution to the History of Philosophy
3. Salomon Munk and Twentieth-Century Jewish Philosophy
3.1. Hermann Cohen's Ethics of Maimonides and His Critique of Salomon Munk
3.2. Leo Strauss's Interpretation of Medieval Islamic and Arabic Philosophy and the Science of Judaism
3.3. A Return to Premodern Philosophy: Leo Strauss and Julius Guttmann
3.4. Existence or Idea? Guttmann's Critique of the Influence of Existentialist Philosophy on Strauss's Concept of Faith
3.5. From Jewish Philosophy to Philosophy as the Essence of Judaism
4. Bibliography
5. Chronology of the Works of Salomon Munk
6. APPENDIX 1: Letters
7. APPENDIX 2: Biographical Descriptions
Index
