AN OVERLOOKED MASTERPIECE

ROSENZWEIG, FRANZ.

Stern der Erlösung.

Frankfurt, Kaufmann, 1921. Royal 8vo. Original half cloth binding with the illustrated and printed cardboard-boards. Hinges weak, internally and externally, and cloth here a bit torn. Overall a very good copy of of this very fragile original binding (the cloth is very thin and fragile and usually totally ruined, making the work quite scarce in the original binding - which has the David Star on the front board). Internally very nice and clean. 532 pp - 2 leaves of advertisement.

The uncommon, and in original binding fairly scarce, first edition of this overlooked masterpiece by one of the most significant Jewish philosophers of the 20th century. The work should rightfully be considered one of the most important philosophical productions of the 20th century and ought to rank with Heidegger's "Sein und Zeit".

The work, which Rosenzweig wrote while in the trenches of the First World War, is the attempt to articulate the place of man in Creation. In Rosenzweig's dense prose, various strains come together and are reconciled: Judaism and Christianity, on the one hand, and German idealism and nascent existentialism, on the other.

This grandiose synthesis both builds on and distances itself from Rosenzweig´s doctoral dissertation on Hegel´s concept of the state, which still ranks among the most significant 20th century contributions to the literature on Hegel. By its ambition of going beyond the format of academic philosophy to embrace the reality of human existence, Der Stern der Erlösung could be compared to Sein und Zeit, Martin Heidegger's first major work which was published in the same year. And it is exactly the towering influence of Heidegger on 20th century philosophy that has overshadowed Rosenzweig's work, which has, however, only gained in prominence in recent years, especially through the writings of Emmanuel Levinas, on whom Rosenzweig was a major influence.

"Der Stern der Erlösung" is usually labeled a work of Jewish philosophy, and Rosenzweig is rightly considered along with Emmanuel Levinas and Martin Buber, his close friend and collaborator, as one of the most significant Jewish philosophers of the 20th century. However, his scope and vision transcend parochial boundaries and should, as we develop a more considered perspective on the last century, earn "Der Stern der Erlösung" a place among its most important works of philosophy.

Order-nr.: 41481