Philosopher David Boonin (University of Colorado Boulder) is inviting other Jewish philosophers to contribute to a collection of writings he’s putting together.
Professor Boonin writes:
Many years ago, I was invited to have dinner with some Jewish undergraduates as part of a Hillel program in which Jewish faculty came and talked about how their Jewish background had influenced their professional development. I initially declined the invitation and explained that I wouldn’t have anything to say because I don’t teach or write about Jewish philosophy. But the Hillel people encouraged me to think about it a bit more before making a final decision and I was glad I did. Among other things, I remember thinking about some of my experiences growing up Jewish and about some of the features I take to be at least somewhat distinctive of Jewish history, tradition, and culture, and finding it more plausible than I had initially expected to think of ways these may well have played a role in my being attracted to philosophy in general, and to certain topics and questions within philosophy, and perhaps even to certain particular philosophical views and methodological approaches. I ended up going to that dinner and it resulted in some genuinely fruitful conversation.
In the years since, I’ve occasionally asked other philosophers who are Jewish this question about the possible connections between their Jewish background and their lives as philosophers and have always found the results rewarding. Even when, perhaps especially when, they’re initially inclined to think they’ll have nothing interesting to say, they end up having something interesting to say.
Now I want to invite more people to join this conversation, so I’m compiling an on-line anthology of reflections on this question that Justin Weinberg has kindly offered to publish on Daily Nous. There’s no minimum or maximum word count. And while I’ve put together a set of suggested prompts for those who might find them useful, contributors are free to address the question in whatever way they find most productive.
If you’re a philosopher who is Jewish, regardless of whether you take yourself to be a practicing or observant Jew, I hope you’ll consider contributing something to this project. If you know of others who might be, I hope you’ll pass this notice on to them. If you are interested in participating, please contact me at [email protected] and I’ll send you a set of suggested guidelines for submissions. The deadline for submissions is December 31, 2026 and I hope to get the final results posted in early 2027.
A number of philosophers have already agreed to contribute writing for the project, including me. I’m not religious at all, and I’m not quite sure yet what I’ll say, but I appreciate Professor Boonin’s prompting to reflect on aspects of or influences on my work and thinking that I haven’t much examined.
