Герман Коген об отношениях иудаизма и христианства

Abstract

The article presents an analysis of the religious and philosophical views of Hermann Cohen, one of the most prominent German and Jewish philosophers of the late 19th – early 20th centuries, the founder of the Marburg school of neo-Kantianism. The author substantiates certain changes in these views, characteristic of two periods of his work, in the second of which, in contrast to the first, religious issues become decisive. In the first of the highlighted periods, the Marburg philosopher substantiates the idea that Judaism is a part of German culture, rejects any form of not only anti-Semitism, but also Zionism, strives to point out the obvious difference between cultural and religious assimilation, emphasizing the possibility of the existence of a single German nation based on religious differences between Christians and Jews. Cohen defends his conviction that the German spirit is strengthened precisely through the religious originality of Judaism, by the Jews defending their religious uniqueness. In the second period of his work, that is, since 1912, the Marburg philosopher is making more and more efforts to propose rational grounds for distinguishing Judaism from Christianity and to substantiate here the greater contribution of the religion of Judaism to the cultural progress of mankind. The author emphasizes that with all the features and changes in Cohen’s attitude to religion and in his assessment of the nature of the interaction between Judaism and Christianity, two main features remained dominant and unchanged. Firstly, it is devotion to one’s religious beliefs and upholding their uniqueness and dignity, and, secondly, it is the confidence in the need to unite the efforts of Judaism and Christianity in the social transformation of society on the basis of morality. The Marburg philosopher saw no contradiction between the desire for recognition of Jewish religious identity and the striving for a harmonious relationship between Judaism and Christianity.