Echoes From The Holocaust: Philosophical Reflections on a Dark Time

Front Cover
Alan Rosenberg, Gerald Eugene Myers
Temple University Press, 1988 - 453 pages

The murder of six million Jewish men, women, and children during World War II was an act of such barbarity as to constitute one of the central events of our time; yet a list of the major concerns of professional philosophers since 1945 would exclude the Holocaust. This collection of twenty-three essays, most of which were written expressly for this volume, is the first book to focus comprehensively on the profound issues and philosophical significance of the Holocaust.

The essays, written for general as well as professional readers, convey an extraordinary range of factual information and philosophical reflection in seeking to identify the haunting meanings of the Holocaust. Among the questions addressed are: How should philosophy approach the Holocaust? What part did the philosophical climate play in allowing Hitlerism its temporary triumph? What is the philosophical climate today and what are its probable cultural effects? Can philosophy help our culture to become a bulwark against future agents of evil? The multiple dimensions of the Holocaust—historical, sociological, psychological, religious, moral, and literary—are collected here for concentrated philosophical interpretations.

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Contents

ASSAULT ON MORALITY
51
ECHOES FROM THE DEATH CAMPS
199
CHALLENGES TO THE UNDERSTANDING
363
The Contributors
443
Index
447
Copyright

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About the author (1988)

Alan Rosenberg is a Lecturer in the Philosophy Department at Queens College of the City University of New York. Philosophy professor and dance enthusiast Gerald E. Myers was born in Central City, Nebraska in 1923. He received a bachelor's degree from Haverford College and a doctorate from Brown University. He taught philosophy at numerous colleges and universities including Smith College, Long Island University, Queens College, and the City University of New York. He wrote Self: An Introduction to Philosophical Psychology (1969) and William James: His Life and Thought (1987) as well as edited the Library of America edition of James's writings. He became a dance enthusiast after meeting his wife Martha Coleman, who was a dancer. He organized educational programs for the American Dance Festival, wrote books like Who's Not Afraid of Martha Graham? (2008), and edited numerous essay collections including The Aesthetic and Cultural Significance of Modern Dance (1984), The Black Tradition in American Modern Dance (1988) and African American Genius in Modern Dance (1993). He died of multiple myeloma on February 11, 2009 at the age of 85.

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