On prayer and dialectic in modern Jewish philosophy

Abstract

In his article, the author makes two fundamental philosophical assumptions, namely, on the one hand, that there is a difference between two patterns of recognition – the dialectical and the dialogic – and, on the other hand, that the origins of the dialogic pattern may be found in the relationship between man and God, a relationship in which prayer plays an important role and which at the same time represents a paradigm for human relationships. He considers both assumptions in the mirror of the thought of Hermann Cohen and Franz Rosenzweig, as two of the most influential Jewish philosophers, whose positions on dialectics and prayer he examines in detail in order to uncover and elaborate their differences and similarities in this regard. Both philosophers use dialectical thinking, but also criticise it, as can also be seen in their approach to prayer, which shows that both prefer a relational and dialogical way of thinking to a dialectical one, but without renouncing the latter. By focusing on Hermann Cohen and Franz Rosenzweig, in the context of prayer and dialectic, this paper highlights the complexity of these themes in modern Jewish thought.