Jacob Taubes, a prominent figure in postwar intellectual circles, navigated a life filled with vibrant connections and intellectual exchanges across continents. Despite his limited published work, his influence stemmed from personal interactions, making him a pivotal presence among scholars. Known for his charisma and a penchant for disorder, Taubes engaged deeply with ideas and challenged boundaries, earning both admiration and skepticism. Jerry Z. Muller explores Taubes's complex legacy, highlighting his impact on the cultural landscape of Europe and America during a transformative era.
This anthology presents a nuanced exploration of conservative social and political thought, tracing its origins to the Enlightenment. It distinguishes conservatism from orthodoxy and highlights key European and American conservative analyses from the mid-eighteenth century to the present. By examining the recurring themes and arguments within conservatism, the book reveals how the institutions conservatives aim to preserve may differ, yet certain characteristic features of conservative thought remain consistent across time and cultures.
The controversial Jewish thinker Jacob Taubes (1923–1987) navigated the complexities of twentieth-century intellectual life, moving from prewar Vienna to Zurich, Israel, and Cold War Berlin. A descendant of Talmudic scholars, Taubes was viewed as both a genius and a charlatan, traversing yeshivas, monasteries, and esteemed academic institutions across three continents. His journey spanned the realms of Judaism and Christianity, left and right politics, and the tension between piety and transgression. Throughout his life, he engaged with prominent figures such as Leo Strauss, Gershom Scholem, Herbert Marcuse, Susan Sontag, and Carl Schmitt. This definitive biography reveals how Taubes’s personal struggles reflected broader conflicts between faith and scholarship, Jewish identity and the desire for liberation, tradition and radicalism, as well as religion and politics. It highlights his role as a key interpreter of the Apostle Paul, shaping scholarly discourse and traversing themes from crisis theology to the Frankfurt School, and from a radical Hasidic sect in Jerusalem to pivotal debates on Gnosticism, secularization, and apocalypticism. This account captures the vibrant intellectual landscape and the charismatic, controversial figure at its center.
Jacob Taubes (1923-1987) war ein einflussreicher Rabbiner und Vertreter des Judentums in der Nachkriegszeit. Sein Leben spiegelt die Konflikte zwischen jüdischem Glauben und Christentum sowie moderne Theorien wider. Die Erzählung beleuchtet seine Beziehungen zu bedeutenden Denkern wie Adorno, Scholem und Habermas.
