MOSES MENDELSSOHN (1729-1786) was a renowned German Jewish philosopher and critic. Originally destined for a rabbinical career, Mendelssohn educated himself in German thought and literature and from his writings on philosophy and religion came to be regarded as a leading cultural figure of his time by both Christian and Jewish inhabitants of German-speaking Europe and beyond.
Through his own example Mendelssohn showed that it was possible to combine Judaism with the rationalism of the Enlightenment. He was accordingly one of the initiators and principal voices of the Haskala ("Jewish Enlightenment"), which helped bring Jews into the mainstream of modern European culture. Through his advocacy of religious toleration and through the prestige of his own intellectual accomplishments, Mendelssohn did much to further the emancipation of the Jews from prevailing social, cultural, political, and economic restrictions in Germany.
PHÄDON (1767) was modelled on Plato's dialogue of the same name and defended the immortality of the soul against the materialism prevalent in his day. It impressed the German world with its beauty and lucidity of style and became one of the most widely read books of its time in German. JERUSALEM (1783), for which he is best known in the English-speaking world, was the first attempt to present Judaism as a religion compatible with the ideas of the Enlightenment. Described by Kant as "an irrefutable book", it is a forcible plea for freedom of conscience, arguing that the state has no right to interfere with the religion of its citizens, Jews included, and in which thoughts are inviolable by both church and state. The last work published by Mendelssohn during his lifetime, MORNING HOURS (1785), is also the most sustained presentation of his mature epistemological and metaphysical views, and all elaborated in the service of presenting proofs for the existence of God.
In addition, the present collection brings together many of his other seminal texts from the entire corpus of both his German and Hebrew writings. These include essays, commentaries, unpublished reflections, and personal letters. They refute any notion that Mendelssohn led a bifurcated intellectual and spiritual existence and demonstrating his ability to transform traditional religious genres into vehicles for philosophical argumentation.
The following books are in PDF format unless otherwise indicated:
* God on Trial (unpublished, 2011). Bruce Rosenstock, trans.
* Jerusalem, or On Religious Power and Judaism (Brandeis, 1983). Allan Arkush, trans.
* Jerusalem: Religious Power and Judaism (unpublished, 2017). Jonathan Bennett, trans.
* Last Works (Illinois, 2012). Bruce Rosenstock, trans.
* Morning Hours: Lectures on God's Existence (Springer, 2011). Dahlstrom & Dyck, trans.
* Moses Mendelssohn’s Hebrew Writings (Yale, 2018). E. Breuer and D. Sorkin, ed.
* Phädon, or On the Immortality of the Soul (Peter Lang, 2007). Patricia Noble, trans.
* Philosophical Writings (Cambridge, 1997). Daniel Dahlstrom, trans.
* Writings on Judaism, Christianity & Bible (Brandeis, 2011). Gottlieb, ed. -- PDF + ePUB
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