Courses 2009-2010
Fall
ECS 392 / POL 414 / REL 392: God and Politics
Focusing on select primary texts from antiquity to the present, this seminar considers various attempts to delineate God's relation to politics from within the history of western political thought, the Judeo-Christian tradition, and the American Founding. Prominent politicians, public intellectuals, and religious leaders will also visit and offer lectures outside of the course.
FRS 173: Tolerance and its Discontents: the Origins and Limits of Virtue
This course traces the development of the quintessentially modern virtue of tolerance in Jewish history and thought. We will explore the complexity of the problem by contrasting civic and religious tolerance and the inherent, sometimes unexpected tensions that lurk behind both. We will look closely at several case studies of how tolerance functioned in the charged climate of medieval society and political religion. The Jewish experience as tolerated minority sheds crucial light on the origins and limits of medieval toleration. We will next explore the question of tolerance and dissent and the religious problem of “heresy.” The course will conclude with an analysis of the arguments for political and religious toleration in the west and the emergence of a Jewish and American discourse of the separation of church and state.
REL 393/ PHI 393/ JDS 393: Spinoza: Philosophy, Religion, and Politics
The first goal of this seminar is to develop a reading of Spinoza’s philosophy by working through his Ethics. In our reading of the Ethics we will discuss Spinoza’s conceptions of ontology, focusing on the relation of ontology to human existence, politics and religion. This will require that we first discuss the fundamental notions of Spinoza’s ontology, such as existence and essence, substance and attribute, substance and modes, causa sui, immanent cause, expression, freedom and eternity. We will then be equipped to elaborate on human existence, politics and religion. In this part we will discuss concepts such as, freedom of will, affection, action and passion, and the sense in which the human always exists in a certain kind of temporality. In order to get a complete view of Spinoza’s philosophy, we will also read passages from Spinoza’s other texts, including the Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect, Short Treatise on God, Man and His Well-Being, The Theological-Political Treatise, the Political Treatise, and the Letters.
Professor: Oded Schechter
Courses - 2008-2009
Courses of Interest offered by the Program in Judaic Studies