Dark Riddle: Hegel, Nietzsche, and the Jews [Paperback]

Yirmiyahu Yovel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1998

This brilliant and absorbing study examines the image of Judaism and the Jews in the work of two of the most influential modern philosophers, Hegel and Nietzsche. Hegel was a proponent of universal reason and Nietzsche was its opponent; Hegel was a Christian thinker and Nietzsche was a self-proclaimed 'Antichrist' Hegel strove to bring modernity to its climax, and Nietzsche wanted to divert the evolution of modernity into completely different paths. In view of these conflicting attitudes and philosophical projects, how did each assess the historical role of the Jews and their place in the modern world? The mature Hegel partly overcame the fierce anti-Jewish attitude of his youth yet continued to see Judaism as the alienation of its own new principles. Post-Christian Judaism no longer had a real history, only a contingent protracted existence, and although modern Jews deserved civil rights, Hegel saw no place for them in modernity as Jews.Nietzsche, on the contrary, who grew to be a passionate anti-anti-Semite, admired Diaspora Jews for their power and depth and assigned them a role as Jews in curing Europe of the decadent Christian culture that their own ancestors, the second-temple Jewish 'priests,' had inflicted upon Europe by begetting Christianity. The ancient corrupters of Europe are thus to be its present redeemers.Through his masterly analysis of the writings of Hegel and Nietzsche, Yovel shows that anti-Jewish prejudice can exist alongside a philosophy of reason, while a philosophy of power must not necessarily be anti-Semitic.

Editorial Reviews

Review

In an ironic reversal of standard images, Yovel sees Nietzsche as the systematic and dialectical thinker of Judaism, while Hegel appears to him far less systematic and far less consistent over time in his views of the Jews. . . . This is an important book. Highly recommended. --G. Zoeller, Choice

Yirmiyahu Yovel s Dark Riddle is a well-crafted and much-needed contribution to three scholarly literatures: on Hegel, on Nietzsche, and on the situation and the perception of the Jewish people in nineteenth-century Europe. Yovel shows precisely how Judaism and the Jews were thematized in the work of two influential philosophers. His deep going study of Nietzsche, in particular, is a surprise, setting a much misunderstood record straight. This book is engaging and fascinating reading for anyone who cares about the interplay of philosophical ideas with the events of modern history. --Stephen Crites, Wesleyan University

Impartial and gentlemanly to the core, Yovel presents a valuable exposition of two of the thinkers, whose works span the gamut from the completion of the modern project of rationality (Hegel) to its complete rejection from an anti-modern perspective (Nietzsche). The guiding question of this exposition is how Hegel and Nietzsche view and represent Jews and Judaism. The result is remarkable. --Michael Zank, Modern Judaism

About the Author

Yirmiyahu Yovel is Schulman Professor of Philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Hans Jonas Professor at the Graduate Faculty, the New School for Social Research, New York. He is the author of Spinoza and Other Heretics (Princeton, 1989).

Product Details

• Paperback: 235 pages
• Publisher: Pennsylvania State Univ (April 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0271017945
• ISBN-13: 978-0271017945
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,672,234 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid thesis and very apt analysis of an abused subject., July 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dark Riddle: Hegel, Nietzsche, and the Jews (Paperback)

First and foremost, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Yovel has a clean and sharp analysis that only rarely seems a bit apologetic for the authors he presents vis-a-vis the subject matter. But this is not to detract from his important contribution to that subject, in fact, I would like to see the writing of another book that he has alluded to in his epilogue; the Jewish take on the two philosophers. I also have to say that Yovel has for the most part redeemed Nietzschean thought for me, I wish he would have speculated some more on the genealogical method devised by the philosopher. My own interest is in East European cultural Zionism and also k'naanite movements in Israel benefiting from the superstructure that both Hegel and Nietzsche created. I can't wait for further exploration of these areas. Lehatzlecha adon Yovel.

3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Monotheism, Enlightenment, Autonomy, March 16, 2003

By 

John C. Landon "nemonemini" (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Riddle: Hegel, Nietzsche, and the Jews (Paperback)

After a series of works on the Enlightenment and the Jews, this work by Y. Yovel, author of a work on Kant's philosophy of history, and on Spinoza, is to be welcomed for a more sophisticated, if debatable, view of these matters, which, however, seem to elude simple explication. Due to the legacy of the Holocaust, all parties seem to have jitters on these issues, and more than arguably seek the reasons for that monumental tragedy in the wrong place.
Covering a wide range of topics, and fascinating at each point, this book is highly readable, but I nonetheless felt the 'dark riddle' yield to another series of problems. The account of Hegel's views on the Jews (indeed of Kant's), then those of Nietzsche, gives a misleading impression, does it not, for Nietzsche's advice to the Jews (behind some solid appreciation) would seem the worst they ever got, while the tradition of autonomy emerging in a figure such as Kant would better fulfill the hope of Spinoza for a real Judaic modernism.
Throughout, the ambiguity of the term 'antisemitism' tends to complicate discussion, and some might be left to conclude that atheism, Biblical Criticism, secular culture, were all antisemitic. Yovel leads us past these dangers by and large with a consideration overdue, but still not quite right, perhaps, of these subjects.
The stolid Hegel's views here would seem less than surprising, the more so as he was able to revise his thinking. In any case, there is an irony here, for the rise of the modern and the era of the Prophets, have a deep resemblance to each other, and to the era of the Greek and Indian Enlightenment. We need to look at them all without prejudice, and somehow rescue the modern instance from the plight to which it is now being unfairly subjected. Engaging work, with some fascinating moments.