Abstract

As indicated by the title, this book contains seven very scholarly essays on Jewish life and thought in the 19th century. Of particular interest to philosophers is Prof. Emil L. Fackenheim's essay, "Samuel Hirsch and Hegel: A Study of Hirsch's Religionsphilosophie der Juden." In this essay, Fackenheim's masterful knowledge of Hegel is clearly visible. The thirty page essay contains a profound awareness of the theological problems inherent in Hegel's philosophy of religion as well as an awareness of how these problems were explicitly engendered by Hegel's metaphysics. As an introduction to some of Hegel's basic themes, Fackenheim has provided an invaluable, if, unfortunately, all too brief, introduction.—D. J. B.