num_pages: 192
description: Koltun-Fromm's reading of Hess is of crucial import for those who study the construction of self in the modern world as well as for those who are concerned with Hess and his contributions to modern thought.... a reading of Hess that is subtle judicious insightful and well supported. --David EllensonMoses Hess a fascinating 19th-century German Jewish intellectual figure was at times religious and secular traditional and modern practical and theoretical socialist and nationalist. Ken Koltun-Fromm's radical reinterpretation of his writings shows Hess as a Jew struggling with the meaning of conflicting commitments and impulses. Modern readers will realize that in Hess's life as in their own these commitments remain fragmented and torn. As contemporary Jews negotiate multiple often contradictory allegiances in the modern world Koltun-Fromm argues that Hess's struggle to unite conflicting traditions and frameworks of meaning offers intellectual and practical resources to re-examine the dilemmas of modern Jewish identity. Adopting Charles Taylor's philosophical theory of the self to uncover Hess's various commitments Koltun-Fromm demonstrates that Hess offers a rich textured though deeply conflicted and torn account of the modern Jew. This groundbreaking study in conceptions of identity in modern Jewish texts is a vital contribution to the diverse fields of Jewish intellectual history philosophy Zionism and religious studies.Jewish Literature and Culture--Alvin H. Rosenfeld editorPublished with the generous support of the Koret Foundation
language: English
title: Moses Hess and Modern Jewish Identity:
publisher: Indiana University Press