Spinoza’s Arguments for Religious Toleration and the Problem of Jewish Modernity

My main research objective is to investigate Spinoza’s arguments for religious toleration in the Theological-Political Treatise and their reception among Jews and those non-Jews concerned with the questions of the form of Jewish religion, the role of Jews in the modern state, and the possibility of the toleration of Jews and other minority religions.  I shall investigate five different arguments, each of which develops an importantly different conception of religious toleration in general and for Jews in particular.  Those arguments are, in order:  Erastian Republican, Universalist Radical Democratic, Liberal Reformist, Zionist-Nationalist, and Diasporic.  These arguments are each situated in a particular context historical and geographical context.  I shall use primary texts to illustrate the structure and use of these arguments.  During my time at HAB I shall focus on the French and German-Jewish reception in the 18th century.

The link to my home page at the University of Toronto is:  https://philosophy.utoronto.ca/directory/michael-a-rosenthal/