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Politics and the limits of law : secularizing the political in medieval Jewish thought / Menachem Lorberbaum.
Library at the Katz Center - Stacks BM645.P64 L67 2001
Available
LIBRA BM645.P64 L67 2001
Available from offsite location
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Lorberbaum, Menachem, 1958-
- Series:
- Contraversions (Stanford, Calif.)
- Contraversions jews and other differences
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Judaism and politics--History--To 1500.
- Judaism and politics.
- Maimonides, Moses, 1135-1204.
- Maimonides, Moses.
- Nissim ben Reuben Gerondi, 1310?-1375?.
- Nissim ben Reuben Gerondi.
- History.
- Political science.
- Physical Description:
- xii, 216 pages ; 24 cm.
- Place of Publication:
- Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, 2001.
- Summary:
- This book explores the emergence of the fundamental political concepts of medieval Jewish thought, arguing that alongside the well-known theocratic elements of the Bible there exists a vital tradition that conceives of politics as a necessary and legitimate domain of worldly activity that preceded religious law in the ordering of society.
- Contents:
- Introduction: Divine Law and Secular Politics 1
- The Polity 3
- Biblical and Talmudic Background 6
- Part 1 Maimonides
- 1 The Natural Foundations of Politics 17
- "Man Is Political by Nature" 18
- Modern Interpretations 24
- Polity and Society 25
- Medieval Interpretations 28
- Naturalizing Divine Law 30
- 2 The Insufficiency of Law 35
- Maimonides on Law 35
- From Law to Politics 41
- 3 The Code on the Priority of Politics 43
- Monarchy
- A King Must Be Appointed and Honored 44
- The King and the Sanhedrin 47
- The King's Right to Command 51
- The King's Right to Punish 55
- Royal Law 61
- Consent 65
- The Maimonidean Monarchy
- Instrumental or Natural? 67
- 4 Constitutional Crisis and Messianic Resolution 70
- The Maimonidean Polity 70
- Politics and Religion 72
- Tension 75
- The Messianic Polity 77
- The Utopian Vision 83
- The Messianic Age and the Utopian Vision 87
- Part 2 Gerondi
- 5 The Kahal as a Polity 93
- The History of Public Law 95
- Communal Authority 100
- Nahmanides 106
- Solomon ibn Adret (Rashba) 112
- 6 The Autonomy of Politics 124
- Politics 127
- The Structure of the Polity 134
- Divine Law 138
- Impasse 143
- Conclusion: Secularizing Politics 151
- Turning to Modernity 156.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 163-208) and indexes.
- Local Notes:
- Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Edith E. Clark Endowment Fund.
- ISBN:
- 0804740747
- OCLC:
- 48475148
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