Fackenheim: German Philosophy and Jewish Thought

Peter Martin is a senior projects editor at the University of Ottawa
Press.

Here is a collection of essays by scholars to honor a distinguished
senior colleague—former University of Toronto philosopher Emil
Fackenheim (now living in Israel). It is, though, not a festschrift. A
tribute, not a memorial, and not, in places, uncritical of the colleague
being honored.

Half of the 10 essays included comment on Fackenheim’s work on German
philosophers (Kant, Hegel, Heidegger, and others) and the rest on his
explorations of Jewish thought.

This is rich fare indeed, not too difficult for readers with some
familiarity with the principal ideas of moral philosophy, but
challenging in its scope, reflecting as it does the breadth and depth of
Fackenheim’s explorations.

And unsettling, too. A good straightforward introduction by the editors
and a graceful, wide-ranging and unexpectedly revealing concluding
essay, “A Reply to My Critics,” by Fackenheim himself place this
philosopher squarely in history. Underlying discussions of idealism, the
dialectic, and revelation are the terrible and ill-comprehended facts of
our times. The smoking chimneys of Auschwitz are unavoidable here.

The book also includes a comprehensive bibliography of Fackenheim’s
own writings.