 |
[email protected] |
 |
3275638434 |
 |
 |
| Paper Publishing WeChat |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
The Silence of God at Auschwitz: The Contributions of Hans Jonas
Peter Takov, Herbert Niba Cheo
Full-Text PDF
XML 390 Views
DOI:10.17265/2159-5313/2021.11.005
Catholic University of Cameroon, Bamenda, Cameroon; St. John Paul II Major Seminary, Mamfe, Cameroon
What is peculiar about Hans Jonas’ concept of God after Auschwitz? How is it distinguishable from that of the proponents of process philosophy? By way of analysis and valuation, this article argues that Jonas’ contribution on the silence of God at Auschwitz proposes a unique solution to the question of theodicy which excludes the atheism and relativism often characteristic of modern philosophical speculation on the subject. At the same time, his concept of God remains compatible with humankind’s existential experience of suffering. In the face of evil, Jonas charges man with the responsibility of “preserving life”, a theme that is central to his thought.
God, evil, Holocaust, omnipotence, mythology, responsibility, silence
Peter Takov & Herbert Niba Cheo. (2021). The Silence of God at Auschwitz: The Contributions of Hans Jonas. Philosophy Study, November 2021, Vol. 11, No. 11, 835-849.
Aristotle. (1985). Metaphysics. In J. Barnes, (Ed.), The complete works of Aristotle. 2 Vols. Bollingen Series LXX1.2. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Augustine. (1999). The confessions. (E. B. Pusey, Trans.). Grand Rapids (MI): Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Retrieved from http://www.ccel.org/ccel/augustine/confess.html
Bernard of Clairvaux. (1844-1855). Sermones in Canticum Canticorum, Sermon 26. In J. P. Migne (Ed.), Patrologia Latina 183. Turnhout: Brepols.
Bacon, F. (1960). The new organon and related writings. Indianapolis: Boobs-Merrill.
Bonansea, B. (1979). God and atheism: A philosophical approach to the problem of god. Washington D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press.
Chopra, D. (2000). How to know god: The soul’s journey into the mystery of mysteries. New York: Three Rivers Press.
Cobb, J. B., & Griffin, D. R. (1976). Process theology: An introductory exposition. Louis Ville: Westminster John Knox Press.
Copleston, F. (1999). History of philosophy, Vol. 9. Cornwall: MPG Limited.
Heimler, C. H., & Price, J. (1977). Focus on physical science. Ohio: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co.
Heschel, J. (1976). Man is not alone: A philosophy of religion. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Hösle, V. (2001). Ontology and ethics in Hans Jonas. Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal, 23(1), 31-50.
Jonas, H. (1984). The Imperative of responsibility: In search of an ethics for the technological age. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Jonas, H. (1996). Mortality and morality: A search for the good after Auschwitz. L. Vogel, (Ed. & Intr.). Evanston (IL): Northwestern University Press.
Jonas, H. (2001). The phenomenon of life: Towards a Philosophical biology. Evanston (IL): Northwestern University Press.
Jonas, H. (2008). Memoirs. C. Wiese, (Ed.). (K. Winston, Trans.). Waltham (MA): Brandeis University Press. (Originally published 2003 in German as Hans Jonas’s Erinnerungen)
Kant, I. (1965). Critique of pure reason. New York: St Martin’s Press.
Kierkegaard, S. (1990). For self-examination. In H. Hong (Ed.), Kierkegaard’s writings. Vol. 21. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Kreeft, P. (2005). The philosophy of Tolkien: The worldview behind the lord of the rings. San Francisco (CA): Ignatius Press.
Lescoe, F. J. (1973). Existentialism with or without god. New York: Alba House.
Lubarsky, S. B. (2008). Jonas, Whitehead, and the problem of power. In H. Tirosh and C. Wiese (Eds.), The legacy of Hans Jonas: Judaism and the phenomenon of life (pp. 397-417). Leiden: Brill.
Maritain, J. (1952). The range of reason. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.
Nietzsche, F. (1883). Thus spoke Zarathustra. (A. Tille, Trans.). Bucks: Heron Books.
Nikulin, D. (2001). Reconsidering responsibility: Hans Jonas’ imperative for a new ethics. Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal, 23(1), 99-118.
O’Sullivan, P. (1992). The secrets of confession. Rockford: TAN Books and Publishers, Inc.
Pearce, J. (2005). Literary giants, literary Catholics. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Pieper, J. (2011). Platonic myths. Indiana: St. Augustine’s Press.
Rea, C. (2002). Retrait de Dieu et Question du Mal: Une Lecture Éthique du Mythe de Hans Jonas. Revue Philosophique de Louvain, 100, 527-548.
Rubenstein, R. (1966). After Auschwitz. New York: Bobbs-Merrill Company.
Sarah, R. (2017). The power of silence: Against the dictatorship of noise. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Sarot, M. (1992). Omnipotence and self limitation. In G. Brink, L. J. Brom, and M. Sarot (Eds.), Christian faith and philosophical theology (pp. 172-185). Kampen: Kok Pharos Publishing House.
Takov, P. (2009). Deriving “ought” from “is” according to Hans Jonas (Doctoral dissertation, Temple University, 2009).
Vogel, L. (1996). Editor’s introduction: Hans Jonas’s Exodus: From German existentialism to post-Holocaust theology. In H. Jonas, Mortality and morality: A search for the good after Auschwitz (pp. 1-40). Evanston (IL): Northwestern University Press.
Vogel, L. (2001). Jewish philosophies after Heidegger: Imagining a dialogue between Jonas and Levinas. Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal, 23, 119-146.
Weinandy, T. (2001). Does God suffer. First Things: A Journal of Religion and Public Life, Nov., 35-41.
Weise, C. (2007). The life and thought of Hans Jonas: Jewish Dimensions. (C. Wiese & J. Grossman, Trans.). Massachusetts: Brandeis University Press.
Wiese, C. (2008). God’s adventure with the world and “sanctity of life”. In H. Tirosh and C. Wiese (Eds.), The legacy of Hans Jonas (pp. 419-460). Leinden: Brill.
Wolin, R. (2001). Heidegger’s children: Hannah Arendt, Karl Löwith, Hans Jonas, and Herbert Marcuse. Princeton (NJ): Princeton University Press.
Xavier, N. S. (1989). The two faces of religion. Bangalore: Theological Publications.