Event details
Mar
16
Mytelka Memorial Seminar – "Like a Conversation": The Problem of Evil between F.W.J. Schelling and Lurianic Kabbalah
The Program in Judaic Studies proudly welcomes this year's Mytelka Scholar, Paul Franks, and kicks off his visit at Princeton with this seminar on Monday, March 16.
What is F.W.J. Schelling’s approach to the problem of evil and how is it related to the approach taken by Lurianic kabbalah, in which he took a serious interest? More specifically, what does Schelling mean when he refers in his Freedom essay to “the kabbalistic” manner “of explaining evil”? He contrasts it with “the dualistic” approach, which he modifies into “the only correct dualism, namely that which at the same time permits a unity.” Could he equally have written of “the only correct kabbalism, namely that which at the same time permits otherness”? Paul Franks and attendees will consider passages from Schelling’s Freedom essay as well as Lurianic texts concerning “the shattering of the vessels” and the root of evil.
All University faculty, students, staff, and researchers are welcome to attend, but space is limited; please RSVP to judaic@princeton.edu. Kosher refreshments will be available.
More about Paul Franks
Paul Franks is Robert F. and Patricia Ross Weis Professor of Philosophy and Jewish Studies, and Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Yale University. He works at the intersection of Jewish philosophy, Kantian and post-Kantian philosophy, and contemporary analytic philosophy. Recent work has focused on Lurianic kabbalah and its development within early modern and post-Kantian philosophy. His current interests include purposiveness in nature and mind, the development of ethical personality, and the relationship between writer, authorial persona, and reader in kabbalah and philosophy. In addition to numerous articles on German Idealism and Jewish philosophy, Franks is the translator and annotator (with Michael L. Morgan) of Franz Rosenzweig: Philosophical and Theological Writings (Hackett, 2000), and he is the author of All or Nothing: Systematicity, Transcendental Arguments, and Skepticism in German Idealism (Harvard, 2005). He is currently writing a book on the central concepts of post-Kantian Idealism in light of their kabbalistic roots and, with Michael L. Morgan, a history of Jewish philosophy from the 1490s to the 1990s.
What is F.W.J. Schelling’s approach to the problem of evil and how is it related to the approach taken by Lurianic kabbalah, in which he took a serious interest? More specifically, what does Schelling mean when he refers in his Freedom essay to “the kabbalistic” manner “of explaining evil”? He contrasts it with “the dualistic” approach, which he modifies into “the only correct dualism, namely that which at the same time permits a unity.” Could he equally have written of “the only correct kabbalism, namely that which at the same time permits otherness”? Paul Franks and attendees will consider passages from Schelling’s Freedom essay as well as Lurianic texts concerning “the shattering of the vessels” and the root of evil.
All University faculty, students, staff, and researchers are welcome to attend, but space is limited; please RSVP to judaic@princeton.edu. Kosher refreshments will be available.
More about Paul Franks
Paul Franks is Robert F. and Patricia Ross Weis Professor of Philosophy and Jewish Studies, and Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Yale University. He works at the intersection of Jewish philosophy, Kantian and post-Kantian philosophy, and contemporary analytic philosophy. Recent work has focused on Lurianic kabbalah and its development within early modern and post-Kantian philosophy. His current interests include purposiveness in nature and mind, the development of ethical personality, and the relationship between writer, authorial persona, and reader in kabbalah and philosophy. In addition to numerous articles on German Idealism and Jewish philosophy, Franks is the translator and annotator (with Michael L. Morgan) of Franz Rosenzweig: Philosophical and Theological Writings (Hackett, 2000), and he is the author of All or Nothing: Systematicity, Transcendental Arguments, and Skepticism in German Idealism (Harvard, 2005). He is currently writing a book on the central concepts of post-Kantian Idealism in light of their kabbalistic roots and, with Michael L. Morgan, a history of Jewish philosophy from the 1490s to the 1990s.
Speakers
Paul Franks
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Date
March 16, 2026Time
4:30 p.m.Location
Scheide Caldwell House, 203Audience
University Sponsors
Program in Judaic Studies