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Utopian thinking and imagination are often viewed as obsolete in today’s world, where global capitalism, environmental destruction, and terrorism dominate. The collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe has further dimmed hopes for traditional social utopias, leading many to believe that utopian visions are no longer viable. This cultural pessimism raises the question of whether it is time to abandon utopian thinking altogether. However, "The Temptation of Hope" seeks to revive the power of utopian imagination, drawing inspiration from Bloch’s concept of an “encyclopedia of hope” that enriches all aspects of life. Hope is presented as an intrinsic human trait, one that has persisted throughout history despite attempts to suppress it. The title may suggest modesty, yet it underscores the necessity for utopian thought in our current era. While hope does not guarantee certainty, it opens pathways to explore possibilities and challenge the status quo. Utopian thinking serves as a critique of existing social structures and a thought experiment for envisioning alternatives. This volume reflects on discussions from the 43rd Wisconsin Workshop, honoring Jost Hermand’s contributions and examining the evolution of utopian discourse from Thomas More to Ernst Bloch and beyond.

New essays examining Goethe's relationship to the Jews, and the contribution of Jewish scholars to the fame of the greatest German writer.

With a few exceptions the essays in this volume are versions of papers presented at a conference on «Responsibility and Commitment: The Ethics of Cultural Mediation,» which occurred at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in March of 1995. Held in honor of Jost Hermand, whose sixty-fifth birthday we were celebrating, the conference brought together Jost's friends and students to discuss issues central to his intellectual concerns. The title and themes of the conference were selected to characterize and to highlight Jost's contributions to intellectual life here and abroad. In dieser Festschrift für Jost Hermand versuchen Kollegen und Schüler, sein umfangreiches und vielfältiges Gesamtwerk auf eine amerikanisch-deutsche Formel zu bringen, die seiner Rolle als Kulturvermittler entspricht. Jost Hermands Arbeiten zeichnen sich nicht nur durch ein universelles Wissen aus, sondern vor allem durch ein Engagement, das kulturelle Erbe durch eingreifendes Schreiben zu vermitteln. Sein wissenschaftliches Ethos zielt sowohl auf eine sachgerechte Aneignung der kulturellen Vergangenheit als auch auf deren gegenwärtige Bedeutung. Als moderner Intellektueller sieht er seine Verantwortung als Lehrer gerade darin, Kultur kritisch zu vermitteln und sein Publikum an die gesellschaftliche Relevanz von Kultur zu erinnern.

Was there a German-Jewish dialogue? This seemingly innocent question was silenced by the Holocaust. Since then, it is out of the question to take comfortable refuge to a distant past when Mendelssohn and Lessing started this dialogue. Adorno/Horkheimer, Arendt, and above all Scholem have repeatedly pointed out, how the noble promises of the Enlightenment were perverted, which led to a complete failure of Jewish emancipation in Germany. It is against this backdrop of warning posts that we dare to return to an important chapter of Jewish culture in Germany. This project should not be seen, however, as an attempt to idealize the past or to harmonize the present, but as a plea for a new dialogue between Germans and Jews about their common past.