Against Autoimmune Self-Sacrifice: Religiosity, Messianicity, and Violence in Derrida’s “Faith and Knowledge” and in Classical Rabbinic Judaism
In this essay, I argue that a comparison of Derrida’s “Faith and Knowledge” to the texts and thought of classical rabbinic Judaism can illuminate new conceptual connections among the different elements of Derrida’s thought. Both Derrida and the rabbinic texts can be viewed as affirming a type of “h...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Warsaw
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Eidos. A Journal for Philosophy of Culture |
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| Online Access: | http://eidos.uw.edu.pl/against-autoimmune-self-sacrifice-religiosity-messianicity-and-violence-in-derridas-faith-and-knowledge-and-in-classical-rabbinic/ |
| _version_ | 1798015548827631616 |
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| author | Daniel H. Weiss |
| author_facet | Daniel H. Weiss |
| author_sort | Daniel H. Weiss |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this essay, I argue that a comparison of Derrida’s “Faith and Knowledge” to the texts and thought of classical rabbinic Judaism can illuminate new conceptual connections among the different elements of Derrida’s thought. Both Derrida and the rabbinic texts can be viewed as affirming a type of “holding back” and “allowing the other to be,” stances which Derrida links to “religiosity” and to “messianicity beyond all messianism.” Moreover, the rabbinic texts appear to avoid the “autoimmune” reaction that Derrida sees as stemming from many sacrificial and self-sacrificial logics in which the self is problematically sacrificed in order to preserve the “unscathed” other. In addition, the rabbinic texts’ stance concerning divine authorization for war and capital punishment help to illuminate Derrida’s claim that the ostensibly “secular” wars of modern states are in fact better understood as “wars of religion.” |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T15:36:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f3dfaa615605425f912b024da2146fb5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2544-302X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T15:36:23Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | University of Warsaw |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Eidos. A Journal for Philosophy of Culture |
| spelling | doaj.art-f3dfaa615605425f912b024da2146fb52022-12-22T04:15:57ZengUniversity of WarsawEidos. A Journal for Philosophy of Culture2544-302X2021-12-0153233410.14394/eidos.jpc.2021.0025Against Autoimmune Self-Sacrifice: Religiosity, Messianicity, and Violence in Derrida’s “Faith and Knowledge” and in Classical Rabbinic JudaismDaniel H. Weiss0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4402-5889Polonsky-Coexist Senior Lecturer in Jewish Studies, Faculty of Divinity, University of CambridgeIn this essay, I argue that a comparison of Derrida’s “Faith and Knowledge” to the texts and thought of classical rabbinic Judaism can illuminate new conceptual connections among the different elements of Derrida’s thought. Both Derrida and the rabbinic texts can be viewed as affirming a type of “holding back” and “allowing the other to be,” stances which Derrida links to “religiosity” and to “messianicity beyond all messianism.” Moreover, the rabbinic texts appear to avoid the “autoimmune” reaction that Derrida sees as stemming from many sacrificial and self-sacrificial logics in which the self is problematically sacrificed in order to preserve the “unscathed” other. In addition, the rabbinic texts’ stance concerning divine authorization for war and capital punishment help to illuminate Derrida’s claim that the ostensibly “secular” wars of modern states are in fact better understood as “wars of religion.”http://eidos.uw.edu.pl/against-autoimmune-self-sacrifice-religiosity-messianicity-and-violence-in-derridas-faith-and-knowledge-and-in-classical-rabbinic/derridasacrificerabbinic judaismmessianismaltruismwar |
| spellingShingle | Daniel H. Weiss Against Autoimmune Self-Sacrifice: Religiosity, Messianicity, and Violence in Derrida’s “Faith and Knowledge” and in Classical Rabbinic Judaism Eidos. A Journal for Philosophy of Culture derrida sacrifice rabbinic judaism messianism altruism war |
| title | Against Autoimmune Self-Sacrifice: Religiosity, Messianicity, and Violence in Derrida’s “Faith and Knowledge” and in Classical Rabbinic Judaism |
| title_full | Against Autoimmune Self-Sacrifice: Religiosity, Messianicity, and Violence in Derrida’s “Faith and Knowledge” and in Classical Rabbinic Judaism |
| title_fullStr | Against Autoimmune Self-Sacrifice: Religiosity, Messianicity, and Violence in Derrida’s “Faith and Knowledge” and in Classical Rabbinic Judaism |
| title_full_unstemmed | Against Autoimmune Self-Sacrifice: Religiosity, Messianicity, and Violence in Derrida’s “Faith and Knowledge” and in Classical Rabbinic Judaism |
| title_short | Against Autoimmune Self-Sacrifice: Religiosity, Messianicity, and Violence in Derrida’s “Faith and Knowledge” and in Classical Rabbinic Judaism |
| title_sort | against autoimmune self sacrifice religiosity messianicity and violence in derrida s faith and knowledge and in classical rabbinic judaism |
| topic | derrida sacrifice rabbinic judaism messianism altruism war |
| url | http://eidos.uw.edu.pl/against-autoimmune-self-sacrifice-religiosity-messianicity-and-violence-in-derridas-faith-and-knowledge-and-in-classical-rabbinic/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT danielhweiss againstautoimmuneselfsacrificereligiositymessianicityandviolenceinderridasfaithandknowledgeandinclassicalrabbinicjudaism |