/ Studium
Workshop mit Omri Boehm: Critique of prophecy. Spinoza and other heretics.
Omri Boehm, israelisch-deutscher Philosoph und Associate Professor für Philosophie an der New School for Social Research, wird am 31. Oktober 2024 im Rahmen der diesjährigen Forum Basiliense Lecture für NachwuchswissenschaftlerInnen einen Workshop anbieten.
Spinoza’s Tractatus Theologico-philosophicus [TTP], which some view as the opening shot of the radical political enlightenment, begins with a definition of prophecy and prophets. «Prophecy,» he argues, «is a certain knowledge given by God to men». A «Prophet», in turn, is he who receives such certain knowledge and delivers it to those who «cannot themselves» acquire it. In this light, the institution of prophecy is seen as the hallmark of guiding one’s thought by accepting authority over our thinking -- of failing the task of enlightenment, literally defined, by Kant, as refusing the «guidance of another» and having the «courage» to «think for oneself».
Does this Auseinandersetzung between prophecy and enlightenment, religion and reason, hold up? Or does enlightenment require thinking prophecy after all? What is the relation between prophecy and politics? Revolution? We will be focusing on Spinoza›s account of prophecy and, reading Kant, its relation to Enlightenment. Texts include specific locations in Spinoza’s TTP; Kant›s «What is Enlightenment» and paragraphs in his 3rd Critique, along with recommended references in Maimonides and Walzer.
registration via: j.buechele@unibas.ch with a short motivation letter until the 24. October