Critiques of Theology: German-Jewish
Intellectuals and the Religious Sources of Secular Thought (SUNY Press,
2023), by Yotam Hotam
Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim
Klein (Rachack Review)
The ubiquitous concept of
critique refers to an ostensibly objective and systematic analysis of a given
work or idea in order to offer a detailed evaluation of it. It goes beyond mere
“criticism” in the colloquial sense to include constructive examination of the strengths,
weaknesses, underlying assumptions, methods, and conclusions of the subject of
one’s study. The goal is often to engage deeply with the subject matter,
fostering understanding and improvement — rather than simply pointing out flaws
or rejecting a certain supposition. In many ways, critique is the bedrock of
academia, but as Professor Yotam Hotam’s book shows, its historical origins and
original uses have often been misunderstood or misrepresented.
Conventional wisdom maintains
that critique as an analytic tool was fashioned as a way of rebelling against
the religious orthodoxy that had dominated Western civilization until the
Enlightenment. It was introduced as a way of paving the path for scientific
inquiry and rational thought to replace the theological dogmas and catechisms
of organized religion. Contrary to that view, Dr. Hotam argues that, in fact,
critique originally also functioned in the service of religion/theology, and
was not simply a means of rebelling against the religious establishment.
Hotam develops his argument by
looking at the work of four secular Jews, whose research and writing have
helped shape academic discourse. Each chapter of this book is dedicated to a
different figure and delving into how they understood the role of critique.
The first chapter discusses the
work of Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), who is considered one of the founders of
contemporary psychology. Although Freud himself was personally an irreligious
Jew, his understanding of critique shows that he did not see it as something totally
anti-religious or anti-theological. The author consciously chose to analyze a
lesser-known work of Freud that treats the concept of jokes partially because
that work is viewed as Freud’s “most Jewish” output.
In that work, Freud characterizes
jokes as a means of critique against the prevailing norms, be they legal or
social. Jokes work by pointing out the foibles, difficulties, inconsistences,
and hypocrisies inherent in the practice of such nomianism. The main
characteristic of jokes is thus that they serve as "antinomian
instruments" against prevailing norms (i.e. they are "critical"
of the establishment). At the same time, Hotam shows that the purpose of jokes
for Freud is not only to serve as an antinomian instrument for undermining or
upending the prevailing norms, but rather also to induce pleasure on the part
of the listener so that they will experience “comic relief” of the sort that
will allow them to continue living under the established norms. In other words,
jokes are also made to "ventilate" the antinomian moments in order to
allow the living under the existing norms.
In this way, critique is not only
against religion or theology, on the contrary, it actually can also
provide some support for those devoted to (or at least living under)
those norms. Both statements are right and the compound relations between these
two objectives shed light on a critique that working against the normative
world in which we live actually preserves it (a unique operation that for Freud
relates more generally to the question of what it means to "live by the
law").
In the second chapter, Dr. Hotam
looks at the Jewish philosopher and cultural critic Walter Benjamin (1892–1940),
specifically focusing on Benjamin’s writings related to the concept
“youth/youthfulness.” Practitioners of critique are expected to exercise
restraint on their own partiality and are therefore supposed to purge
subjective dross from their repertoire to express only that which is objective.
Yet, as human beings mature and become more and more entrenched in material
worldliness, their ability to tap into the objective becomes weakened and
obfuscated by everything else that they experience and/or want to experience.
For Benjamin, youthfulness is a
metaphorical way of denoting the ideas of transcendence, eternity, and divinity
— all concepts which lie beyond This World and almost intrinsically have a
theological connotation. Hotam thus shows how in Benjamin’s thought
youthfulness, which represents the ideal conditions for engaging in critique,
is almost synonymous with the Divine. By pointing this out, Hotam provides a
poignant example of how critique and theology are certainly not mutually
exclusive, but are rather both means of impelling a person towards something
out of This World.
I read the next chapters, but I
understood even less. I had never even heard of Theodor Adorno before, and I
only had a vague inkling about Hannah Arendt’s work. From what I gathered from those
chapter, the point is that Adorno understood critique as somehow
translating theological terminology into a secularized versions of metaphysics
in a way that both rejects the basic tenets of theology, but still preserves
its content. A similar phenomenon is seen Arendt’s work, which focuses on how
critique relates to tradition by rejecting some aspects of tradition in order
to overall preserve some of its basic tenets.
In conclusion, this book presents
a challenging and intricate exploration of the relationship between modern
critique and theology, deploying dense arguments that may leave the uninitiated,
non-expert reader (such as myself) struggling to keep up. While I found certain
sections informative and thought-provoking, much of the text remains
inaccessible without a deeper familiarity with the field. The author’s essential
argument maintains that critique originally used theological concepts to
simultaneously reject and embrace religion — adds a unique overall frame to the
work, though the significance of some aspects, such as the bizarre and
intriguing artwork on the cover, goes unexplained. Ultimately, the book
suggests that modern critique, even in its most secular forms, remains
intertwined with theological roots. It demands careful, deliberate reading, far
beyond what casual academic consumption might allow.
