Editor's introduction by Leonard Levin -- A personal viewpoint: autobiographical essay -- My way in the research and teaching of Jewish thought -- Judaism and the lonely Jew -- Faith: its trusting and testing - the question of God's righteousness -- History in the postmodern age -- The idolatrous values and rituals of the global village.

Hebrew University Professor Emeritus and Israel Prize recipient Eliezer Schweid (1929-2022) is the greatest historian of Jewish thought of our era. In Siddur Hatefillah he probes the Jewish prayer book as a reflection of Judaism's unity of Judaism and continuity as a unique spiritual entity; and as the most popular, most uttered, and internalized text of the Jewish people. Schweid explores texts which process religious philosophical teaching into the language of prayer, and/or express philosophical ideas in prayer's (...) special language - which the worshipper reflects upon in order to direct prayer, and through which flows hoped-for feedback. With the addition of historical, philological, and literary contexts, the study provides the reader with first-time access to the comprehensive meaning of Jewish prayer- filling a vacuum in both the experience and scholarship of Jewish worship. (shrink)

A comprehensive, interdisciplinary account of the major thinkers and movements in modern Jewish thought, in the context of general philosophy and Jewish social-political historical developments. Volume 1 (of 5) covers the period from Spinoza through the Enlightenment.

Israeli philosopher and public intellectual Eliezer Schweid offers his own bold reading, breaking with old stereotypes and challenging todays readers--both ...

Volume Three, “The Crisis of Humanism,” commences with an important essay on the challenge to the humanist tradition posed in the late 19th century by historical materialism, existentialism and positivism. These Jewish thinkers of the late 19th and early 20th century addressed the general European value crisis while laying foundations for Jewish renewal: Hess, Lazarus, Cohen, Ahad Ha-Am, Dubnow, Berdiczewski, and the theorists of Yiddishism and Labor Zionism.

This book provides a standard reference of the major medieval Jewish philosophers, as well as an eminently readable narrative of the course of medieval Jewish ...

This book provides a standard reference of the major medieval Jewish philosophers, as well as an eminently readable narrative of the course of medieval Jewish philosophical thought, presented as a response to the spiritual-intellectual challenges facing Judaism in that period.

ḥeleḳ 1. Teḳufat ha-haśkalah (Seder ha-yom he-ḥadash la-hitmodedut ha-filosofit ʻim ha-dat) -- ḥeleḳ 2. Ḥokhmat Yiśraʼel ṿe-hitpatḥut ha-tenuʻot ha-moderniyot -- ḥeleḳ 3. Mul mashber ha-humanizm. kerekh 1. ʻAl parashat ha-derakhim ha-hisṭorit -- kerekh 2. Aḥarit ha-merkaz ha-Yehudi be-Germanyah -- ḥeleḳ 4. ha-Hitmodedut ʻim hithaṿat merkeze Yahadut ḥadashim be-Erets-Yiśraʼel uve-Artsot ha-Berit.

This is a large, complex story in which the author describes the contributions of Mendelssohn, Wessely, Krochmal, Zunz, the mainstream Zionist thinkers ...

This volume features Eliezer Schweid's most original essays and an interview with him. Together they express his fundamental outlook: the faith of a secular Jew, articulating responsibility toward one's neighbor, one's people, the world, and God in a secular age.

ha-Historyah shel ha-filosofyah ha-Yehudit ke-hermanoiṭiḳah -- Hagut bi-Yeme ha-Benayim -- he-Hagut ha-ishit : rishoniyut ha-ḳiyum ha-Yehudi u-sheʼelat ha-zehut -- ʻAl ha-emunah -- ha-Tefilah -- Meḥuyavut Yehudit pluralisṭit -- Tsiyonut ṿe-Yahadut -- ha-Shivah el ha-Yehudiyut ke-masaʻ eḳzisṭentsyali -- Li-heyot Yehudi be-Yiśraʼel.

Jewish culture and universal perspectives.

Eliezer Eilburg: The Ten Questions and Memoir of a Renaissance Jew makes available for the first time a bilingual edition of two key works by the Jewish rationalist skeptic, kabbalist, and memoirist, Eliezer Eilburg.

ABSTRACT We consider evolution of knowledge bases caused by a sequence of basic steps of acquisition of a new information, either consistent or inconsistent with the original system. To make this process comply with the Principe of Minimal Change, a special evidence metric is introduced for measuring distance between states of knowledge. Then a novel semantics of knowledge bases is developed suggested by the heuristics of weighted maximally consistent subsets. The latter is efficiently applied to the processes of consistent and (...) inconsistent acquisition of knowledge, belief revision and contraction. (shrink)

Introduction -- The mischievous neuron -- The shadow of determinism -- The essential freedom -- A tempest in the brain -- Neurological disturbance -- The seat of the will -- The somatic-marker hypothesis -- The readiness potential -- The grand illusion -- Neuronal destiny -- The revolution of the brain -- Seeds of corruption -- Morality's end -- The depths of consciousness -- A challenge for experience -- The boundlessness of reason -- Rise of the moral agent -- The palace (...) of the mind. (shrink)

Do science and technology create value for society and the economy, and how might one go about measuring it? How do we evaluate its benefits? Can we even be certain that there are benefits? Geisler argues that there are benefits, and that they outweigh in value the negative impacts that inevitably accompany them. His revolutionary new book goes on to show that they can also be measured and evaluated, and in one volume all of the existing knowledge on how to (...) do it is complied--then Geisler's own methods are offered. The result is a compelling argument that the value of science and technology in our lives has indeed been positive, and that the economic well-being of all individuals, organizations, and nations rests upon them. Geisler starts off by describing his conceptual framework for the evaluation of science and technology and the impact and benefits that proceed from them. He discusses the nature of evaluation in general terms, and then in the specific context of science, technology, and innovation together. He reviews the state of our present knowledge and assesses the nature of value creation itself. Throughout, Geisler remains fixed on his driving thesis: Although there are certainly some negative impacts from science and technology, on the whole the results of its outputs are positive. He shows how they have contributed to a range of activities and institutions, particularly to the improvement of health and human welfare worldwide. Finally, after discussing the theories of evaluation, he gets down to the practice, providing readers with a way to assess science and technological innovations for themselves. (shrink)

This work copiles key metrics to measure and evalute the impact of science and technology on academia, industry and government. it covers such topics as ...

1: The End of History 2: The Beyondness of the Singularity 2.1: The Definition of Smartness 2.2: Perceptual Transcends 2.3: Great Big Numbers 2.4: Smarter Than We Are 3: Sooner Than You Think 4: Uploading 5: The Interim Meaning of Life 6: Getting to the Singularity.

In the scientist's lair -- The mysterious power -- The ghost in the machine -- The mechanics of mind -- Consciousness emerges -- How to build a mind -- Turing's test of consciousness -- Supremacy of the machines -- The Chinese room -- Demons in the brain -- Describing the indescribable -- March of the zombies -- The denial of consciousness -- The limits of computation -- A new generation.

Investigates the brain's hidden logic behind seemingly irrational behaviors to explain how conscious and unconscious systems interact in order to create experiences and preserve the sense of self. --Publisher's description.