Papers from the annual conference of the Abraham Geiger College.

A landmark collection of essays by prominent academics in modern Jewish and German-Jewish history, honoring Michael A. Meyer, a pioneer in those fields. In Mediating Modernity, contemporary Jewish scholars pay tribute to Michael A. Meyer, scholar of German-Jewish history and the history of Reform Judaism, with a collection of essays that highlight growing diversity within the discipline of Jewish studies. The occasion of Meyer's seventieth birthday has served as motivation for his colleagues Lauren B. Strauss and Michael Brenner to compile this volume, with essays by twenty-four leading academics, representing institutions in five countries. Mediating Modernity is introduced by an overview of modern Jewish historiography, largely drawing on Meyer's work in that field, delineating important connections between the writing of history and the environment in which it is written. Meyer's own areas of specialization are reflected in essays on Moses Mendelssohn, German-Jewish historiography, the religious and social practices of German Jews, Reform Judaism, and various Jewish communities in America. The volume's field of inquiry is broadened by essays that deal with gender issues, literary analysis, and the historical relationship of Israel and the Palestinians. Though other volumes have been compiled to honor Jewish historians, Mediating Modernity is unique in the personal and intellectual relationships shared by its contributors and Michael A. Meyer. Scholars of Jewish studies, German history, and religious history will appreciate this timely volume.

“Never again” stands as one the central pledges of the international community following the end of the Second World War, upon full realization of the massive scale of the Nazi extermination programme. Genocide stands as an intolerable assault on a sense of common humanity embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other fundamental international instruments, including the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the United Nations Charter. And yet, since the Second World War, the international community has proven incapable of effectively preventing the occurrence of more genocides in places like Cambodia, Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sudan. Is genocide actually preventable, or is “ever again” a more accurate catchphrase to capture the reality of this phenomenon? The essays in this volume explore the complex nature of genocide and the relative promise of various avenues identified by the international community to attempt to put a definitive end to its occurrence. Essays focus on a conceptualization of genocide as a social and political phenomenon, on the identification of key actors (Governments, international institutions, the media, civil society, individuals), and on an exploration of the relative promise of different means to prevent genocide (criminal accountability, civil disobedience, shaming, intervention).

This is one of the first textbooks to try to set the entire discipline of Jewish philosophy in its proper cultural and historical contexts. In so doing, it introduces the vibrant Jewish philosophical tradition to students while also making a significant contribution to inter-religious dialogue. Victor J Seidler argues that the dominant Platonic tradition in the West has led to a form of cultural ethics which asserts false superiority in its relationships with others. He offers a critical reappraisal of the philosophical underpinnings of this western Christian culture which for so long has viewed Judaism with hostility. Examining the work of seminal Jewish thinkers such as Philo, Buber, Mendelsohn, Herman Cohen, Leo Baeck, Levinas, Rosenzweig and others, the author argues for a code of ethics which prioritises particular and personal moral responsibility rather than the impersonal and universal emphases of the Greek tradition. His provocative and original overview of Jewish philosophy uncovers a vital and neglected tradition of thought which works against the likelihood of a Holocaust recurring.

The canonical collections took their starting point from the ‘sacred law’ (ius sacrum) characteristic of canon law, since its norms promote the sanctification of the individual persons. This principle was the basis for the compilation of the so-called Pre-Gratian canon law collections, too. In the recent research, there have arisen new stresses on the better understanding of how this textual development of canonical collections had happened prior the Decretum Gratiani. An original canonical textual witness testifies about the circumstances of its origin, and, indeed, about the physical effects on the text during daily usage. The endeavor to issue the complete canon law did not mean only the composition of the universal canonical norms, but also the gathering of the particular norms, inveterate customs, or theological statements that could set the contents of the ecclesiastical discipline in the proper light.

Christine M. Korsgaard presents an account of the foundation of practical reason and moral obligation, based on a new theory of action and interaction. She proposes that the function of an action is to constitute the agency and therefore the identity of the person who does it, and that only morally good action can serve this function. -;Christine M. Korsgaard presents an account of the foundation of practical reason and moral obligation. Moral philosophy aspires to understand the fact that human actions, unlike the actions of the other animals, can be morally good or bad, right or wrong. Few moral philosophers, however, have exploited the idea that actions might be morally good or bad in virtue of being good or bad of their kind - good or bad as actions. Just as we need to know that it is the function of the. heart to pump blood to know that a good heart is one that pumps blood successfully, so we need to know what the function of an action is in order to know what counts as a good or bad action. Drawing on the work of Plato, Aristotle, and Kant, Korsgaard proposes that the function of an action is to. constitute the agency and therefore the identity of the person who does it. As rational beings, we are aware of, and therefore in control of, the principles that govern our actions. A good action is one that constitutes its agent as the autonomous and efficacious cause of her own movements. These properties correspond, respectively, to Kant's two imperatives of practical reason. Conformity to the categorical imperative renders us autonomous, and conformity to the hypothetical imperative. renders us efficacious. And in determining what effects we will have in the world, we are at the same time determining our own identities. Korsgaard develops a theory of action and of interaction, and of the form interaction must take if we are to have the integrity that, she argues, is essential for. agency. On the basis of that theory, she argues that only morally good action can serve the function of action, which is self-constitution. -

The formation or developing process of the Ivonian work (i.e. Decretum, Panormia, Tripartita) is an emblematic example for the proper textual-history of Medieval Canonical Collections before the late 12th century. The recent studies concerning the Pre-Gratian canon law collections show well how the earlier meaning of “canonical collection” differs from its classical meaning. The fundamental intention was to summarize the whole of canon law which – as “ius sacrum” – served the daily life of the Church and was useful in every field of the ecclesiastical activity. The textual families of Ivo’s canonical work and the textual variants of these families demonstrate well this intention. In this present volume are described several 11th-12th century manuscripts and fragments of the Ivonian canon law collection. The precise paleographical, codicological and textual-critical analysis which was done by the author has improved the considerations on the step by step textual-development. These new results have shown in new light Ivo’s compiling work.