Jewish Philosophers on Reason and Revelation Essay -- Research Essays

Jewish Philosophers on Reason and Revelation Footnotes are Misssing ABSTRACT: Are reason and revelation different sources of truth? Do they contradict or complement each other? The present essay tries to give an answer to these ancient questions from a Jewish pluralistic point of view. I describe the essential views of the most important representatives of the two main schools of Jewish thought: the rationalists Maimonides, Moses Mendelssohn, and Hermann Cohen, and the antirationalists Judah Halevi and Solomon Levi Steinheim. I show that even the antirationalists use the tools of rationalism, by which Talmudic-rabbinic thought is characterized, in an attempt to show that they are not irrationalists. The comparison of this attitude with the general philosophic tradition shows that Aristotle’s notion of potential knowledge is closer to Jewish thought than Plato’s view of recollection. Introduction Throughout the history of philosophy and theology the question of the relation between reason and revelation as the two ways of leading to the recognition of truth has always been discussed. Is human reason capable of recognizing and understanding the phenomena of the physical world? Can it make any statements about the metaphysical realm (provided that it exists at all)? Or may be man has to depend on religious truth, as in Christianity e.g., which claims to be based on the concept of incarnation as truth? What is the relation between reason and belief, between philosophy and theology? Does one exclude the other, or do both have a function with a common concern? If so, perhaps one way is only of an instrumental character while the other is actually expressing the aim itself? Many answers have been given during the long histor... ...th the general philosophical tradition, I would say that it contradicts Plato's view as expressed in "Meno" according to which enquiry and learning are impossible; they only are, or remembering. Aristotle's notion of potential knowledge, on the other hand, is very close to the rational character of Jewish thought. I have tried to outline in a few words some contributions of the Jewish tradition which might serve for the promotion of advanced educational research. I am aware of the fact that the task that this general philosophical-historical outline has suggested, still has to be spelled out. I wish it only to serve as a theoretical base on which educational projects can be built, provided that they take into consideration the biblical view that man should use and develop his rational faculty, both to "conquer"(29) the world and to be aware of his being created.