Suchergebnisse

Ethics is at the center of Eliezer Berkovits's views on many vital questions in Jewish thought. Indeed, he speaks of "the priority of the ethical." This essay considers three areas related to ethics in which Berkovits's thought exhibits certain tensions: his critique of science, his critique of situation ethics, and his explanation of ritual. These tensions reflect the fact that Berkovits has a dual goal. On the one hand, he criticizes lives devoid of faith and seeks to make tradition relevant in a modern world beset by alienation, depersonalization, and loss of meaning. On the other hand, he tries to influence Jews to adopt certain moral values that have been neglected by halakic authorities. Although Berkovits regards these values as ancient, they are part of the modern world. The essay also argues that in a variety of ways Berkovits is a stronger critic of modernity than one might suppose.

Aspects of the Theory of Definition -- I / Preliminary Considerations -- Real and Nominal Definitions -- Primitive Concepts: Habits, Conventions, and Laws -- II / Definitional Desiderata -- Vagueness and the Desiderata for Definition -- Definition in a Quinean World -- III / Formal Developments -- Definitions and Definability -- Towards a General Theory of Identifiability -- IV / Epistemic Dimensions -- Epistemic Terms and the Aims of Epistemology -- Rational Definitions and Defining Rationality -- V / Specialized Conceptions -- Idealized Definitions in Physics and Idealized Dispositions -- Inverted Definitions and Their Uses -- VI / Disciplinary Conceptions -- Definitions in Law -- Defining the Divine -- Philosophical Analyses: An Explanation and Defense -- Index of Names -- Index of Subjects.