Philosophical Witnessing: The Holocaust as Presence

Title Page, Copyright Page

« Philosophical Witnessing » the tauber institute for the study of european jewry series Jehuda Reinharz, General Editor Sylvia Fuks Fried, Associate Editor The Tauber Institute Series is dedicated to publishing compelling and innovative approaches to the study of modern European Jewish history, thought, culture, and society. The series features scholarly works related to the Enlightenment, modern Judaism and the struggle for emancipation, the rise of nationalism and the spread of antisemitism, the Holocaust and its aftermath, as well as the contemporary Jewish experience. The series is published under the auspices of the Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry�established by a gift to Brandeis University from Dr. Laszlo N. Tauber�and is supported, in part, by the Tauber Foundation and the Valya and Robert Shapiro Endowment. For the complete list of books that are available in this series, please see www.upne.com and www.upne.com/series/taub.html Berel Lang Philosophical Witnessing: The Holocaust as Presence David N. Myers Between Jew and Arab: The Lost Voice of Simon Rawidowicz Sara Bender The Jews of Białystock during World War II and the Holocaust Nili Scharf Gold Yehuda Amichai: The Making of Israel’s National Poet Hans Jonas Memoirs Itamar Rabinovich and Jehuda Reinharz, editors Israel in the Middle East: Documents and Readings on Society, Politics, and Foreign Relations, Pre-1948 to the Present Christian Wiese The Life and Thought of Hans Jonas: Jewish Dimensions also by berel lang Art and Inquiry The Human Bestiary Faces, and Other Ironies of Writing and Reading Philosophy and the Art of Writing Act and Idea in the Nazi Genocide The Anatomy of Philosophical Style: Literary Philosophy and the Philosophy of Literature Writing and the Moral Self Mind’s Bodies: Thought in the Act Heidegger’s Silence The Future of the Holocaust: Between History and Memory Holocaust Representation: Art within the Limits of History and Ethics Post-Holocaust: Interpretation, Misinterpretation, and the Claims of History edited volumes Marxism and Art: Writings in Aesthetics and Criticism The Concept of Style Philosophical Style: An Anthology about the Writing and Reading of Philosophy Philosophy and the Holocaust The Philosopher in the Community: Essays in Memory of Bertram Morris The Death of Art Writing and the Holocaust Race and Racism in Theory and Practice The Holocaust: A Reader br andeis university press Published by University Press of New England One Court Street, Lebanon, NH 03766 www.upne.com© 2009 by Brandeis University Press Printed in U.S.A. 5 4 3 2 1 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Members of educational institutions and organizations wishing to photocopy any of the work for classroom use, or authors and publishers who would like to obtain permission for any of the material in the work, should contact Permissions, University Press of New England, One Court Street, Lebanon, NH 03766. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lang, Berel. Philosophical witnessing: the Holocaust as presence / [Berel Lang]. p. cm. — (The Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry series) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-1-58465-741-5 (cloth: alk. paper) 1. Holocaust, Jewish (1939–1945)—Moral and ethical aspects. 2. Holocaust, Jewish (1939–1945)—Influence. 3. Good and evil. 4. Philosophy, Jewish. I. Title. d804.3.l3573 2009 940.53'1801—dc22 2009006597 University Press of New England is a member of the Green Press Initiative. The paper used in this book meets their minimum requirement for recycled paper. to lela, nina, & gabriel, to hannah & leah —and the world before you ...