Writings

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Meimonides
It strikes me that the solution proposed by Maimonides to the freewill problem has been wrongly equated with the solution put forward by Boethius. In what follows, I try to explain how the two proposals differ. I’d love to hear...
Lennon Eyeglasses
Reviewed by Andrew Pessin, Professor of Philosophy, Connecticut College: apessin@conncoll.edu John Lennon and the Jews (JL&J;) is an extremely original and significant book. It should be read by every Jew, no matter where he or she stands on the long...
Exodus
Sometimes, absence of evidence for p does not count as evidence for not-p. So, there being an absence of evidence for, say, that there are 1.2 billion ants in Jerusalem does not count as evidence that there are not 1.2 billion ants in Jerusalem. At other times, however, absence of evidence for p does count as evidence for not-p. So, that there are no signs of footprints in the mud is not only an absence of evidence that somebody has just recently walked in the mud, but is evidence that nobody has walked there.
Salomon Maimon
In recent years works by Reuven Agushewitz and Solomon Maimon have been translated into English. I wonder if anyone is able to furnish us with a book review or a detailed summary of their work. Whilst the two men couldn’t...
Science
I’ve written a short little book that is a re-writing of Rav Hirsch’s Nineteen Letters. The re-working tries to package the key ideas in modern language and reapply them to different historical circumstances. Here is an edited excerpt from the...
Here are links to two articles relating to logic in the Talmud: “The Realm of the Sacred, wherein We may not Draw an Inference from Something which Itself has been Inferred: a reading of Talmud Bavli Zevachim folio 50” by Curtis Franks Department of Philosophy,
Discuss Gittin
In what follows, I copy the soncino translation of tractate Gittin 28a. I intersplice the text with my italicised comments. I have nothing of real interest to say about this excerpt. That’s why I’m appealing for your help! If we don’t want...
Talmudic Destiny
Expired
January 16, 2024
7:00 pm
The APJ is delighted to announce that our annual group session will be held at the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association on Tuesday evening, January 16, 2024, 7-10 pm at the Sheraton, New York Times Square. This year’s...
October 15, 2023
Rutgers Analytic Theology Seminar – CFP Deadline Oct 15, 2023. The Rutgers Analytic Theology Seminar solicits abstracts for papers in analytic theology, for a conference to be held March 10-12, 2024, at Rutgers University’s New Brunswick campus. Papers are welcome...