Seminar: Reconsidering Kant’s Critique of Judaism

Speaker: Yoav Schaefer (Princeton University)

In a change to the previously advertised programme, we welcome Yoav Schaefer for a seminar held jointly with the Faculty of Divinity’s Religious Studies seminar (convenor: Dr Daniel Weiss).

Dr Stacey Gutkowski will speak in October 2024. Further details to follow.

Part of the IRR Seminar series.

About the speaker

Yoav Schaefer began his studies in the Religion, Ethics, and Politics subfield at in 2018. Prior to arriving at Princeton, Yoav earned a B.A. in Social Studies from Harvard University and studied Jewish philosophy and history at Tel Aviv University. His research interests include political and critical theory, philosophy, and Jewish thought.

Yoav's dissertation, entitled "Salomon Maimon's Kantian Interpretation of Maimonides," explores the writings of Salomon Maimon, an important early follower and critic of Kant, especially of his influential interpretation of the medieval Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides in his Giveat ha-Moreh, his Hebrew commentary on the first book of Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed, and his Autobiography, which devotes ten chapters to a summary of Maimonides' entire philosophical system. 

Yoav is the recipient of the Laurance S. Rockefeller Graduate Prize Fellowship from the University Center for Human Values. His work has also been supported by Princeton's Program in Judaic Studies, the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, and the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. His writings have appeared in both popular and scholarly publications, including the Jewish Review of Books, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Modern Judaism, and Jewish Studies Quarterly. His article, "The Genesis of Salomon Maimon's Kantian Interpretation of Maimonides," is forthcoming in the Journal of the History of Philosophy.