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168 SHOFAR Fa112000 Vol. 19, No.1 Nietzsche's thought. Those already acquainted with Nietzsche's life and thought are likely to be intrigued with Mandel's psychological and biographical analyses and convinced ofthe importance of continuing detailed study of the book's central theme. The Nietzsche specialist will find that Mandel's and Santaniello's books together provide complementary and comprehensive coverage of the current state ofNietzsche scholarship on these issues. Mandel's book offers the reader a learned and detailed look at the psychological and situational forces which shapedNietzsche's approaches to Jews and Judaism, and that is an excellent gift. Michael F. Duffy Theology Department Hanover College Dark Riddle: Hegel, Nietzsche, and the Jews, by Yirrniyahu Yovel. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998. 235 pp. $45.00 (c); $18.95 (p). Yirrniyahu Yovel has written a balanced and informed assessment ofa topic that lends itself to self-righteous denunciations and ill-informed sophistry. In Dark Riddle he examines the role that the Jews and the Jewish religion played in the life and writings of two eminent German philosophers: G. F. W. Hegel and Friedrich Nietzsche. There is no compelling reason for the choice of these two particular philosophers, but there can be little doubt that both exerted an enormous influence on subsequent thinkers. Their impact, however, had little to do with their occasional comments on Jews; neither Hegel nor Nietzsche wrote at length about either contemporary Jewry or historical Judaism. Nonetheless, Yovel succeeds in demonstrating that the Jews occupy a pivotal position in both men's thought, and that each, from very different, and often opposed, perspectives, conceived of the Jewish religion as crucial for a radical change in the history ofmankind. Yovel also argues that antisemitic sentiments are not neutralized by the rationality of a given philosopher's approach, and that anti-Jewish biases are not necessarily the consequence of a stance that denies reason and views the world as a struggle based on power. The strength ofthe book, however, does not lie in this rather dubious conclusion, but inthe differentiatedmanner inwhich Yovelproceeds. Sensitive to context in both the historical and the philosophical realm, Yovel weighs the evidence judiciously, providing insights rather than invectives, while at the same time rarely slipping into apology or prevarication. Yovel begins his examination with a bit of prehistory that sketches the views of Spinoza, Mendelssohn, and Kant on historical Judaism. Quite obviously the historical enlightenment did not always advocate a favorable attitude toward the Jews: Kant displays occasional anti-Jewish remarks in his private correspondence, as well as a coolness toward the Jewish religion in his writings. In fairness to Kant, of course, we should note that many enlightened Jews-in particular those Jews who were either Book Reviews 169 assimilated or in theprocess ofassimilation-were themselves hostile to various aspects of their own religion and its history; in some cases Kant was simply repeating views emanating from the enlightened Jewish community. After these sketches, Yovel turns to Hegel, who is accorded strict historical treatment. In general, Judaism was an enigma for Hegel-the title of this monograph comes from a comment by Hegel's early biographer, Karl Rosenkranz-but Yovel's claim is that Hegel's initial disparaging attitude gradually transforms itself into something more favorable. The Spirit ofChristianity and Its Fate (1798-1800) is "the fiercest anti-Jewish text ever written by Hegel" (p. 24), since it contains several deprecatory references to Judaism and treats the Jewish religion, in contrast to the Hellenic spirit, as a break with love and nature. By the time Hegel writes the Phenomenology (1800) Judaism has already been upgraded, and in his mature writings it is even valued as a religion ofsublimity. For Hegel Judaism is the first time that God is not seen as/in nature, but as spirit, and the religion of the Jews therefore represents an essential advance, although it, like all steps on the path to the Absolute, is one-sided and abstract. Yovel detects vestiges ofearlier anti-Jewish bias in Hegel's later works, but he does commend Hegel for his support of Jewish emancipation in his own times. Ultimately the reader has difficulty discerning whether Yovel...

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