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A.D. Gordon was one of the most interesting and original Jewish thinkers of the twentieth century. Quest for Life presents Gordon’s philosophy, which was developed in Hebrew at the beginning of the twentieth century, to the English reading public. It discusses the role played by the early Land of Israel pioneering labor community in the development of his thought, and offers a new understanding of its major themes, including: the relation of humanity to nature, human freedom, ethnicity, religion, and ethics. In addition, the book discusses the repercussions of Gordon’s thought with respect to contemporary civilization while suggesting its implicit ‘quest for life’ as the basis for a re-evaluation of such topics as the meaning of human life, Jewish peoplehood and the idea of a Jewish homeland.
Yossi Turner is Professor of Jewish Thought and Philosophy at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. He has published extensively on philosophies of Jewish existence, Jewish religious philosophy, and Jewish social thought. At present he is also involved in developing an original philosophy designed to explicate various problems facing contemporary Jewish life and humanity.
Table of Contents
Part One: Introduction: Historical and Biographical Background
1. Introduction
2. A Quest for Life: Historical and Biographical Background
Part Two: Philosophy and Life—Nature, Society, and the Question of Ecological Responsibility
3. Gordon’s Philosophy as a Response to Kant, Nietzsche, and Marx
4. The Foundations of A. D. Gordon’s Philosophy of Man in Nature: Life, Self, and Experience
5. Critique of Society and Civilization
6. Religion, Family, and the Ethic of Ecological Responsibility
Part Three: Life and Praxis
7. The National “Self” in Aḥad Ha’am, Brenner, and Gordon
8. Self-Realization as Self-Education
9. Freedom and Equality in Gordon’s Ideas on the Founding of a Workers’ Settlement
Part Four: National Individuality, Social Justice, and the Prospects of a Universal Humanity
10. Zionism and Diaspora Jewry
11. Jews and Arabs
12. National Individuality as a Condition of Universal Humanity
Part Five: Conclusion
13. A Critical Summary
Postscript: Contemporary Repercussions
14. The Malaise of Modernity: Durkheim and Taylor Versus Dewey
Bibliography