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Judaism as philosophy


<p>"The book is carefully organized and provides a clear, well-structured, and lucid expression of its theses." -- Dr. Marvin Fox, Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Brandeis University</p> <p>The Mishnah is the first canonical writing of Judaism after the Hebrew Scriptures of ancient Israel (the Old Testament) and the foundation of the two Talmuds and of all Judaism thereafter. According to eminent religion scholar Jacob Neusner, the key to understanding the Mishnah is to read it as philosophy, in accord with the generally accepted understanding of philosophy in its time and place. In Judaism as Philosophy, Neusner studies a large sample of evidence, meticulously translated and carefully explained, and identifies the philosophical side of the Mishnah's system, method, and message alike.</p> <p>The philosophical tradition in which the Mishnah takes its place, Neusner explains, utilizes the Aristotelian method of hierarchical classification to demonstrate the proposition (important to Middle Platonism and profoundly expressed by Plotinus) that many things really form a single thing: many species, a single genus; many genera, an encompassing, well-crafted and cogent whole. Through the systematic and orderly hierarchical classification of the things of nature, the framers of the Mishnah illustrate the ultimate unity of all being emanating from the One on high. Arguing that the document's writers chose a legal form for a philosophical proposition, this book completely changes a centuries-old way of reading the Mishnah. Judaism emerges as a sustained demonstration of the unity of all being under one God.</p> <p>"What is the next phase in this ongoing history of the formationof Judaism in the classical period[?]... The analysis of the philosophical character of the Mishnah places into perspective what I believe to be the character of the first phase, and therefore points toward the development of the second and third phases, of the Judaism of the Dual Torah. The entire characterization of the first phase of the Judaism of the Dual Torah, that is, the system attested by the Mishnah in particular, rests upon the results of this book and its two companions, on economics and politics respectively."--from the Preface</p>

Author(s): Jacob Neusner  

ISBN 10: 0872497364
ISBN 13: 9780872497368
Pages: 317
Format: Hardcover
Publication: 1991/12/01
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Other books by Jacob Neusner

1. A History of the Jews in Babylonia II: The Early Sasanian Period (University of South Florida Studies in the History of Judaism) Paperback (May 2000)
2. A History of the Jews in Babylonia IV: The Age of Shapur II (South Florida Studies in the History of Judaism Series 220), Vol. 4 Paperback (May 2000)
3. A History of the Jews in Babylonia, Part 1: The Parthian Period Paperback (December 2008)
4. A History of the Jews in Babylonia, Part II: The Early Sasanian Period Paperback, 2008 (July 2008)
5. A History of the Jews in Babylonia, Part III: From Shapur I to Shapur II Paperback (December 2008)
6. A History of the Jews in Babylonia, Part IV: The Age of Shapur II Paperback, 2008 (2008)
7. A History of the Jews in Babylonia, Part V: Later Sasanian Times Paperback (December 2008)
8. A History of the Jews in Babylonia, Volume 15 Part 5. Later Sasanian Times Hardcover (June 1970)
9. A History of the Jews in Babylonia: The Parthian Period Paperback (May 2000)
10. A History of the Mishnaic Law of Holy Things, Part 1: Zebahim: Translation and Explanation Paperback, 2007 (2007)
11. A History of the Mishnaic Law of Holy Things, Part 2: Menahot: Translation and Explanation Paperback, 2007 (2007)
12. A History of the Mishnaic Law of Holy Things, Part 3: Hullin, Bekhorot: Translation and Expl... Paperback, 2007 (2007)
13. A History of the Mishnaic Law of Holy Things, Part 4: Arakhin, Temurah: Translation and Explanation Paperback (April 2007)
14. A History of the Mishnaic Law of Purities, Part 10: Parah: Literary and Historical Problems Paperback, 2007 (2007)
15. A History of the Mishnaic Law of Purities, Part 12: Tohorot: Literary and Historical Problems Paperback, 2007 (2007)
16. A History of the Mishnaic Law of Purities, Part 13: Miqvaot: Commentary Paperback, 2007 (2007)
17. A History of the Mishnaic Law of Purities, Part 14: Miqvaot: Literary and Historical Problems Paperback, 2007 (2007)
18. A History of the Mishnaic Law of Purities, Part 15: Niddah: Commentary Paperback, 2007 (2007)
19. A History of the Mishnaic Law of Purities, Part 16: Niddah: Literary and Historical Problems Paperback, 2007 (2007)

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