Even If (Most Of) What Detractors Say About The Founding Of Israel Were True …(Andrew Pessin) (Part 1 of 2)

Guest post by Andrew Pessin: (Subscribe to his free substack)________________________ “I was forced to leave my study group because my group members told me that the people at the Nova music festival deserved to die because they were partying on stolen land.” --M.I.T. student Talia Kahn on her campus environment 1. 2023 and 1948 It may be 2023 but campus responses to...

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Another philosopher fails basic logic when it comes to Israel

We've discussed before the strange phenomenon of so many philosophers through history who were also antisemitic. It's hard to know why this is, but I pointed out that philosophers often think that they are smarter, better and have more insight into subjects than the dumb masses, and this hubris extends into the idea that they think that anything they come up with must...

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How to deal with antisemitic philosophers?

In the New York Times' philosophy column, Laurie Shrage points out a provocative point: Most major Western philosophers were antisemites. We commonly assume that anti-Semitism and related attitudes are a product of ignorance and fear, or fanatical beliefs, or some other irrational force. But it is by now well known that some of the most accomplished thinkers in modern societies have defended anti-Semitic views. For instance, several of the...

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Book review: The Jewish God Question

The Jewish God Question, by Andrew Pessin, is a very readable compendium that briefly describes the philosophy of dozens of Jewish thinkers over the centuries, from Philo to today. Over 70 Jewish philosophers are given a short chapter or two (or three). Each chapter is two pages long. Pessin manages to take key points of their thinking and condense them into very few...

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Book review: The Philosophy of Hebrew Scripture

The Philosophy of Hebrew Scripture Yoram Hazony Cambridge University Press 2012 I was inspired to read this work as I responded to an article by David Hazony, Yoram's brother, on how to keep young Westerners interested in Judaism. Rather than concentrate on importing Israeli values into the West, which I believe is only a stopgap, I felt that there was a lot of intellectual...

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A "philosopher" in the NYT essentially calls Zionism racism. His argument is propaganda, not philosophy.

The New York Times has a feature called "The Stone" which is supposed to be "a forum for contemporary philosophers and other thinkers on issues both timely and timeless. " Its latest installment bashes Zionism. Philosophically, of course. Omri Boehm,  an assistant professor of philosophy at the New School for Social Research, starts off the way any good propagandist...

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