Hermann Cohen and the Crisis of Liberalism (EPUB) von Paul Egan Nahme

A bold, contemporary assessment of Hermann Cohen's philosophical and religious commitments as a way to challenge today's political and social disenchantment with liberalism.

Acknowledgements

Introduction: Religion, Reason, and the Enchanted Public Sphere

1. Minor Protest(ant)s: Cohen and German-Jewish Liberalism

2. The Dialectic of Enchantment: Science, Religion, and Secular Reason-ing

3. Rights, Religion, and Race: Cohen's Ethical Socialism and the Specter of Anti-Semitism

4. Enchanted Reasoning: Self-Reflexive Religion and Minority

Conclusion: Some Minor Reflections of Enchantment

Index

Hermann Cohen (18421918) is often held to be one of the most important Jewish philosophers of the nineteenth century. Paul E. Nahme, in this new consideration of Cohen, liberalism, and religion, emphasizes the idea of enchantment, or the faith in and commitment to ideas, reason, and critiquethe animating spirits that move society forward. Nahme views Cohen through the lenses of the crises of Imperial Germanythe rise of antisemitism, nationalism, and secularizationto come to a greater understanding of liberalism, its Protestant and Jewish roots, and the spirits of modernity and tradition that form its foundation. Nahme's philosophical and historical retelling of the story of Cohen and his spiritual investment in liberal theology present a strong argument for religious pluralism and public reason in a world rife with populism, identity politics, and conspiracy theories.

Paul E. Nahme is Dorot Assistant Professor of Judaic Studies and Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Brown University.