The relationship between Judaism and philosophy has been the subject of discussion at least since Late Antiquity. Often, however, philosophy is reified as a distinct body of knowledge, the views of Epicurus and his followers, Aristotle’s corpus, or the very...
- January 21, 2012
- 16 Min Read
NOTICE: The symposium on Hilary Putnam’s paper scheduled for 14-21 November, has been postponed. Apologies. The symposium on Curtis Franks’s paper will now be held between 01-08 December. Professors Franks and Andrew Schumann have kindly agreed to participate in the...
- November 16, 2011
- 1 Min Read
In our discussions of Eli Hirsch’s paper, this week, Aaron Segal raised the following criticism of Hirsch’s general approach to the Talmud. Segal said: ‘We might wonder whether Hirsch’s assumption [that the disputants in the Talmud were making claims...
- August 17, 2011
- 51 Min Read
Sometimes, absence of evidence for p does not count as evidence for not-p. So, there being an absence of evidence for, say, that there are 1.2 billion ants in Jerusalem does not count as evidence that there are not 1.2 billion ants in Jerusalem. At other times, however, absence of evidence for p does count as evidence for not-p. So, that there are no signs of footprints in the mud is not only an absence of evidence that somebody has just recently walked in the mud, but is evidence that nobody has walked there.
- July 24, 2011
- 8 Min Read
In recent years works by Reuven Agushewitz and Solomon Maimon have been translated into English. I wonder if anyone is able to furnish us with a book review or a detailed summary of their work. Whilst the two men couldn’t...
- July 20, 2011
- 1 Min Read
I’ve written a short little book that is a re-writing of Rav Hirsch’s Nineteen Letters. The re-working tries to package the key ideas in modern language and reapply them to different historical circumstances. Here is an edited excerpt from the...
- July 19, 2011
- 35 Min Read
Here are links to two articles relating to logic in the Talmud: “The Realm of the Sacred, wherein We may not Draw an Inference from Something which Itself has been Inferred: a reading of Talmud Bavli Zevachim folio 50” by Curtis Franks Department of Philosophy,
- July 18, 2011
- 1 Min Read
In what follows, I copy the soncino translation of tractate Gittin 28a. I intersplice the text with my italicised comments. I have nothing of real interest to say about this excerpt. That’s why I’m appealing for your help! If we don’t want...
- July 17, 2011
- 4 Min Read
