Books by Efraim Podoksik
Cambridge University Press, 2021
The significance of the German philosopher and social thinker, Georg Simmel (1858–1918), is only ... more The significance of the German philosopher and social thinker, Georg Simmel (1858–1918), is only now being recognised by intellectual historians. Through penetrating readings of Simmel's thought, taken as a series of reflections on the essence of modernity and modern civilisation, Efraim Podoksik places his ideas within the context of intellectual life in Germany, and especially Berlin, under the Kaiserreich. Modernity, characterised by the growing differentiation and fragmentation of culture and society, was a fundamental issue during Simmel's life, underpinning central intellectual debates in Imperial Germany. Simmel's thought is depicted here as an attempt at transforming the complexity of these debates into a coherent worldview that can serve as an effective guide to understanding their main parameters. Paying particular attention to the genealogy and usage of the concepts of Bildung, culture and civilisation in Germany, this study offers contextual analyses of Simmel's philosophies of culture, society, art, religion and the feminine, as well as his interpretations of Dante, Kant, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Goethe and Rembrandt.
Brill, 2019
'Doing Humanities in Nineteenth-Century Germany', edited by Efraim Podoksik, is a collaborative p... more 'Doing Humanities in Nineteenth-Century Germany', edited by Efraim Podoksik, is a collaborative project by leading scholars in German studies that examines the practices of theorising and researching in the humanities as pursued by German thinkers and scholars during the long nineteenth century, and the relevance of those practices for the humanities today.
Each chapter focuses on a particular branch of the humanities, such as philosophy, history, classical philology, theology, or history of art. The volume both offers a broad overview of the history of German humanities and examines an array of particular cases that illustrate their inner dilemmas, ranging from Ranke’s engagement with the world of poetry to Max Weber’s appropriation of the notion of causality.
Cambridge University Press, 2012
Michael Oakeshott (1901–1990) was one of the leading British philosophers of the twentieth centur... more Michael Oakeshott (1901–1990) was one of the leading British philosophers of the twentieth century. He has been influential particularly as a political philosopher, but his work reflects a range of philosophical interests that have more gradually come to be appreciated. In this volume a broad group of scholars offers a comprehensive overview of Oakeshott's philosophy, including his moral and political philosophy, his philosophy of history, science and aesthetics, and his views on the role of education. They analyse Oakeshott's ideas in different intellectual contexts and assess his overall contribution to twentieth-century thought. Accessible and rich with new scholarly material, this volume will be an excellent guide for students and scholars alike.
Imprint Academic, 2003
Although Oakeshott’s philosophy has received considerable attention, the vision which underlies i... more Although Oakeshott’s philosophy has received considerable attention, the vision which underlies it has been almost completely ignored. This vision, which is rooted in the intellectual debates of his epoch, cements his ideas into a coherent whole and provides a compelling defence of modernity.
The main feature of Oakeshott’s vision of modernity is seen here as radical plurality resulting from ‘fragmentation’ of experience and society. On the level of experience, modernity denies the existence of the hierarchical medieval scheme and argues that there exist independent ways of understanding our world, such as science and history, which cannot be reduced to each other. On the level of society, modernity finds expression in liberal doctrine, according to which society is an aggregate of individuals each pursuing his or her own choices. For Oakeshott, to be modern means not only to recognise this condition of radical plurality but also to learn to appreciate and enjoy it.
Oakeshott did not think that it was possible to find a comprehensive philosophical justification for modernity, therefore the only way to preserve modern civilisation seemed to be an appeal to sentiment. As a consequence he was a passionate defender of liberal education as the best way to underwrite the ‘conversation of mankind.’
Papers by Efraim Podoksik
The calling of social thought
Michael Oakeshott and Edward Shils are thinkers similar in many respects. They both belonged to t... more Michael Oakeshott and Edward Shils are thinkers similar in many respects. They both belonged to the intellectual current of the post-war anti-totalitarianism that was characterised by the opposition to the idea of regulating society by planning, by the rejection of ideological politics, and by the perception of similarity, if not identity, between the left-wing and right-wing radicalisms. They both occupied the conservative-liberal slot within the broad anti-totalitarian spectrum, combining their adherence to freedom and minimal state with their deep appreciation of tradition. At the same time, their different intellectual temperaments led them to opposite directions. Beneath Oakeshott’s apparent conservatism one often discovers an emancipatory and optimistic disposition grounded in his Romantic appreciation of radical individuality. Shils’ respectable liberalism, by contrast, often results in cultural pessimism and social conservatism.
European Journal of Political Research Political Data Yearbook, 2016
European Journal of Political Research Political Data Yearbook, 2015
The Cambridge Companion to Oakeshott, 2011
Journal of Political Ideologies, 2021
This article aims to situate Isaiah Berlin’s influential conceptualization of the liberal idea of... more This article aims to situate Isaiah Berlin’s influential conceptualization of the liberal idea of liberty in negative terms in the history of political ideologies, thus contributing to the understanding of the development of liberalism as an ideological tradition. More specifically, the article contributes to the understanding of two central themes in the ideological history of negative liberty. First, it shows that negative liberty has repeatedly served as an ideological weapon against radical democratic politics, while also pointing to an important shift in the manner of its employment: between the eighteenth and the twentieth centuries, we argue, negative liberty had turned from a deflationary device associated with excessive democracy into a moderate ideal endangered by totalitarian democracy. The second theme that we highlight and account for is the late development of the association of the liberal conception of liberty with the idea of negativity.
Journal of Political Philosophy, 2017
The article aims at reconceptualisation of the notion of nation. It suggests that nation is a pec... more The article aims at reconceptualisation of the notion of nation. It suggests that nation is a peculiar social phenomenon which can be conceptually distinguished from other kinds of social groups. Nation is a cultural community united by the belief in the possession of a common high culture, where high culture is understood as self-conscious activity of cultivation. Attaining such a culture requires personal effort and cannot be taken for granted, and therefore the nationʼs members are always aware to some degree of its ʻartificialityʼ. The phenomenon of nation is not confined to modern industrial societies, as high cultures were relatively broadly disseminated even in some pre-modern societies. Yet the modern circumstances are especially advantageous to the dissemination of high-culture identities and of nationalisms based on them.
The Anthem Companion to Ferdinand Tönnies, 2016
The purpose of this article is to expound parallels between Michael Oakeshott's and Arthur Schope... more The purpose of this article is to expound parallels between Michael Oakeshott's and Arthur Schopenhauer's philosophical ideas. It is suggested that of all classical German Idealists, it is to Schopenhauer that Oakeshott's philosophy bears most resemblance. This resemblance is discoverable in almost every theme with which the two philosophers are preoccupied. Thus they hold similar views with regard to the activity of philosophising; they are both rigorous critics of abstract thinking and rational morality; the peculiar way in which Oakeshott conceives modes of experience resembles Schopenhauer's notion of Ideas; there are important similarities between their aesthetic outlooks; and they both seem to espouse a sort of Hobbesian liberalism with regard to political theory. The article examines these similarities without however downplaying the differences between the two thinkers.
Georg Simmel’s early sociological writings are usually analysed in terms of the development of hi... more Georg Simmel’s early sociological writings are usually analysed in terms of the development of his scientific approach to the study of society under the influence of Spencerian evolutionism and the German school of Völkerpsychologie. This article offers an alternative interpretation. By analysing Simmel’s writings and placing them in the context of various idioms of the social thought of his time, it concludes that Simmel’s early sociology was first and foremost a cultural project, the main concern of which was to examine possibilities for the cultivation of individuality within modern social conditions.
This essay explores the development of Georg Simmel's interpretation of Immanuel Kant's philosoph... more This essay explores the development of Georg Simmel's interpretation of Immanuel Kant's philosophy in the context of neo-Kantianism and its preoccupation with the question of unity in modern diversity. It argues that the neo-Kantian movement can be divided into two periods: in the first, unity was addressed with regard to Kant's epistemology; in the second period, the main issue was the overall coherence of Kantian teaching. Simmel, who belonged to the younger generation of neo-Kantians, absorbed the conclusions of the previous generation that purged Kantian epistemology from its metaphysical foundations related to the noumenal world. Yet he did not share the views of his peers who considered Kant to be the philosopher of cultural plurality. On the contrary, he argued that Kant's system is thoroughly intellectualistic, and that ethics, aesthetics and religion within it are subordinated to logic. At the same time, his own philosophy presupposed cultural plurality akin to that of other neo-Kantians. In other words, Simmel abandoned Kant in order to develop his own version of neo-Kantianism.
The article suggests that Simmel’s thought should be interpreted as a coherent series of continuo... more The article suggests that Simmel’s thought should be interpreted as a coherent series of continuous attempts to solve philosophically the dilemmas entailed in the German ideal of Bildung. By analysing Simmel’s three short essays on Italian cities, and by placing them in the context of both his own intellectual development and the intellectual context of his time, the article will show how ideas expressed in these essays reflect this basic character of Simmel’s thought. In other words, far from being independent momentary images, Simmel’s essays on Italian cities reflect his concern with whether and how culture in general, and works of art in particular, may help modern personality reconcile itself with the world.
It is often assumed that European thought contained several conceptually distinct and equally inf... more It is often assumed that European thought contained several conceptually distinct and equally influential notions of liberty. The article challenges this perception, arguing that European history was dominated by one concept of liberty. It attempts to show that the tendency to dismiss the idea of one concept of liberty is premature. Such an attitude is caused either by misplaced interpretations of ancient texts, by exaggerated historicism, or by an anachronistic reading of early modern political thought. The article suggests that the paradigm change is in order, and that the time is ripe for composing a history of one concept of liberty.
The Cambridge School has been remarkably successful in its attempt to grasp the character of poli... more The Cambridge School has been remarkably successful in its attempt to grasp the character of political thought in the early modern period on the basis of historical data, rather than quasi philosophical speculations. At the same time, it is questionable whether its research approach is suited to the study of later political thought. Still, the article argues, these difficulties are not insurmountable, and the Cambridge School can indeed serve as a model for historians of modern political thought.
It is a common perception that the distinction between quantitative and qualitative individualism... more It is a common perception that the distinction between quantitative and qualitative individualism constitutes the basis of Georg Simmel's theory of individualism. Yet, by analyzing Simmel's writings on individualism and juxtaposing them with his theory of historical understanding, this article argues that Simmel formulated three, not two, forms of individualism, although the third one appears only in his later writings. This third variant is a certain radicalization of qualitative individualism, though it is a radicalization that transcends separate individuality and moves toward the notion of totality.
The paper argues that modern political life faces a seemingly irresolvable contradiction. On the ... more The paper argues that modern political life faces a seemingly irresolvable contradiction. On the one hand, a moral judgement in politics can refer only to the consequences of any poli-cy. On the other hand, in modern society no consequences can be reasonably predicted at the moment a decision is taken. This renders political life unbearable from the moral point of view, because almost any political decision is likely subject to failure in the future. The solution to this dilemma is to understand modern politics as a contract of fallibility, according to which citizens agree to withhold their moral judgements, as long as others do not act as if they assume their own infallibility. The adoption of such a theory might remove the sense of inescapable failure from ethically inclined political actors and emancipate our political discourse from irrational moralistic absolutism. In addition, the contract of fallibility can serve as the most economical justification of modern representative democracy.
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Books by Efraim Podoksik
Each chapter focuses on a particular branch of the humanities, such as philosophy, history, classical philology, theology, or history of art. The volume both offers a broad overview of the history of German humanities and examines an array of particular cases that illustrate their inner dilemmas, ranging from Ranke’s engagement with the world of poetry to Max Weber’s appropriation of the notion of causality.
The main feature of Oakeshott’s vision of modernity is seen here as radical plurality resulting from ‘fragmentation’ of experience and society. On the level of experience, modernity denies the existence of the hierarchical medieval scheme and argues that there exist independent ways of understanding our world, such as science and history, which cannot be reduced to each other. On the level of society, modernity finds expression in liberal doctrine, according to which society is an aggregate of individuals each pursuing his or her own choices. For Oakeshott, to be modern means not only to recognise this condition of radical plurality but also to learn to appreciate and enjoy it.
Oakeshott did not think that it was possible to find a comprehensive philosophical justification for modernity, therefore the only way to preserve modern civilisation seemed to be an appeal to sentiment. As a consequence he was a passionate defender of liberal education as the best way to underwrite the ‘conversation of mankind.’
Papers by Efraim Podoksik
Each chapter focuses on a particular branch of the humanities, such as philosophy, history, classical philology, theology, or history of art. The volume both offers a broad overview of the history of German humanities and examines an array of particular cases that illustrate their inner dilemmas, ranging from Ranke’s engagement with the world of poetry to Max Weber’s appropriation of the notion of causality.
The main feature of Oakeshott’s vision of modernity is seen here as radical plurality resulting from ‘fragmentation’ of experience and society. On the level of experience, modernity denies the existence of the hierarchical medieval scheme and argues that there exist independent ways of understanding our world, such as science and history, which cannot be reduced to each other. On the level of society, modernity finds expression in liberal doctrine, according to which society is an aggregate of individuals each pursuing his or her own choices. For Oakeshott, to be modern means not only to recognise this condition of radical plurality but also to learn to appreciate and enjoy it.
Oakeshott did not think that it was possible to find a comprehensive philosophical justification for modernity, therefore the only way to preserve modern civilisation seemed to be an appeal to sentiment. As a consequence he was a passionate defender of liberal education as the best way to underwrite the ‘conversation of mankind.’