3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item The death of God in the thought of Richard L Rubenstein(2015-06-24) Hellig, Jocelyn LouiseNo contemporary Jewish theology can be meaningful i f i t ignores the two d e c isiv e w atershed events fo r tw entieth century Ju d a ier, namely, the H olocaust and the re-estab lish m en t o f the S ta te of I s r a e l. Richard L. R ubeustein'a theology is rooted in th ese two k a iro i. In addition to th is , h is theology is highly su b jectiv e and the o rig in s of traumas in h is own l i f e are seen to be re fle c te d in those of the l i f e o f h is people For th is reason, d e ta ils of h is l i f e and work are presented in the in tro d u c tio n to t h is th e s is . With th e Holocaust as h is focus and point of d ep artu re, Rubenstein has declared the death o f the God-who—a c ts -in -h is to ry . He was unable to rec o n cile the Nazi attem pt a t Judenvevnichtung with the existence of the tr a d itio n a l God of theism who chose I s r a e l and who a cts purposefully in h is to ry . His m ajor statem ent of the nineteen s ix tie s was se t out in A fte r A ueohvits. D espite the death of the tra d itio n a l God of theism,*he in s is te d on observance of tra d itio n a l Jewish r i t u a l , p a rtic u la rly p r ie s tly r i t u a l , fo r the attainm ent of au th en tic Jewish selfhood. Two c e n tra l m otivations fo r both the re je c tio n of the tra d itio n a l God of theism and fo r the re te n tio n of r i t u a l , were h is in siste n c e on the capacity of the ir r a tio n a l to move men, and the b e lie f in the c e n tra lity of g u i lt fe e lin g s in men. L ife was seen as bracketed between two o b liv io n s. His theology was devoid o f e sch ato lo g ical hope. A God-concept remained in th e form of Holy Nothingness o r the cannibal Earth Mother. Je was deeply influenced by Freud and the E x is te n t ia li s ts . Great s tr e s s was placed on the ir r a tio n a l aspect of the Holocaust, and C h ris tia n ity ’ s mythic stru c tu re which designated the Jew as d e ic id e , was seen as one of the potent causative fa c to rs fo r anti-Sem itism . R ubenstein's c u rre n t thought has moved beyond the confines of the Jewish im plications of the Holocaust to probe i t s wider im plicstiona for the world. He now views the Holocaust in terms of 'c a lc u la tin g r a tio n a lity ' as the culm ination of a ra d ic a l se c u la ris a tio n of consciousness which he secs as having o rig in a te * in the B ible. His concern is w ith a fu n c tio n a lly 'godless* world in which a Holocaust could take p lac e. The Holocaust and other la rg e -sc a le massacres are perceived in terms of b u re a u c ra tic a lly organised population riddance in the face of th e in tra c ta b le problem of global population redundancy. The aim of th is th e s is i s to examin e and r e f le c t the progression of Rubenetein* s thought from the nineteen s ix tie s to the present and to evaluate h is theology as a v iab le way of l i f e fo r modern se c u la risin g Jews. Section One c o n s titu te s an attem pt to present Rubenetein's th eo lo g ical and i n te lle c tu a l development. Chapters I I , IV, V and VI deal with various asp ects o f h is thought such as h is views on s e c u la ris a tio n , on man and r e lig io n , on God, eechatology and h is to ry , and on power. Chapter I deals w ith the ro o ts o f s e c u la ris a tio n and the a th e is tic tren d in modern th e o lo g ic a l thinking as a backdrop to R ubenstain's theology. An excursus in to the psychoanalytic th eo ries of Freud was undertaken in Chapter I I I because of the immense influence of Freud on Rubenetein's e arly thought. Section Two c o n s titu te s a c ritiq u e of R ubenetein's views in re la tio n to o th er th e o lo g ic a l responses to the H olocaust. I t also examines the v ia b ility of h is th e o lo g ica l proposals for a meaningful Jewish lif e a fte r the H olocaust. The conclusion of th is th e s is is th a t although the normative Jewish theology of h is to ry shows the most au th en tic path fo r Jews to follow , R ubenstein's views of the nineteen s ix tie s c o n s titu te a meaningful option fo r Jews who, a f t e r the Holocaust, are unable to re ta in b e lie f in the th e i s t ic God of h is to ry . This was made p o ssib le by R ubenstein's emphasis on the need fo r ongoing Jewish p ra c tic e . His cu rren t theology is too p e ssim istic to o ffe r any r e a l is ti c options fo r continuing Jewish l i f e . I t s main c o n trib u tio n is th a t i t gives us in sig h t in to the possible causes of our w o rld 's m alaise in an attem pt to contain man's d e stru ctiv e n ess.Item Reading violence: representation and ethics(2009-02-17T10:01:18Z) Thompson, Allan CampbellABSTRACT The textual representation of an instance of violence involves three principle considerations: a notion of representation, a conception of violence, and an inter-relationship between ethical and aesthetic evaluations. By investigating these considerations within the context of postmodern thought, a more sensitive perception of textual representations of violence becomes possible. Any representation, prior to being read and interpreted, has no predetermined meaning, and therefore no inherent value. It is only through a process of reading that verifiability, the principles of appraisal and personal cognition become actualised. As any text is necessarily iterable – subject to infinite (re)interpretation within an infinite number of future contexts – any interpretation is determined by the intersection of the iterable text and the historically situated reader. Violence, which is defined as an act of direct or indirect intentional harm against a person’s body or mind or property, may be experienced either as an event, or as a representation of an event. In instances of the representation of violence, the ethical perspective of the reader is influenced to a large extent by expectations of the text’s verifiability, the linguistic register of the text, and the inter-subjective ethical framework at the moment of reading the text. The aesthetic evaluation of the narrative, which is closely associated with its linguistic features, is also closely related to this ethical perspective. However, normative systems of ethics are often inadequate in the face of the plurality of meaning and possibilities inherent in representations of violence, and therefore a postmodern conception of ethical thought seems most appropriate. Textual instances of violence therefore have the potential for representing a multiplicity of experiences and ethical responses, without necessarily having to rely upon problematic normative obligations of systemisation or duty. A recognition of postmodern ethical ambiguity, combined with a flexibility of moral outlook, allows the reader to develop a more nuanced approach to the ethical predicaments suggested by the representation of violence.