John Niemeyer Findlay (1903-1987) was one of the twentieth century’s most unique philosophers. At a time when positivism, scientific materialism, linguistic analysis, and ordinary language philosophy were the academic staple in Britain and America, Findlay championed phenomenology, revived Hegelianism, and wrote works that were inspired by Plotinus, Buddhism, and Absolute Idealism. In the course of a long career that brought […]
Read MoreThe 20th century philosopher, J.N. Findlay, in a series of little known but profound works presents a modern Neoplatonic philosophy that can help serve as a guide to a contemporary interpretation of the Kabbalah[1]. Findlay, whose Neoplatonism is enhanced by a reading of Kant and Hegel, provides a view of the deep philosophical antinomies of earthly life […]
Read MoreDownload PDF here In the Lurianic Kabbalah we are witness to a theosophical account of the world’s creation, which at the same time provides a foundation for a theory of human creativity as well as a general model for understanding linguistic significance. By explicating how the symbolic dynamic of the Lurianic Kabbalah accounts for both human […]
Read MoreRecently I have been asked to comment on the notion that Ein-sof is Ayin (Nothingness) and to offer my thoughts on the problem of creation ex nihilo. In Symbols of the Kabbalah (pp. 67-74) I explored the Kabbalist’s equation of Ein-sof, the Infinite God, with Ayin, absolute nothingness. For example, I commented upon the 13th century Kabbalist David Ben Abraham ha-Lavan’s view that Ein-Sof is a […]
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Introduction Contemporary scholarship on the Kabbalah has focused considerable attention on the Kabbalist’s views of language and interpretation. One reason for this, as Moshe Idel and others have observed, is that there is an important affinity between the Kabbalistic conception of infinite layers of meaning in scripture and contemporary philosophical ideas regarding the infinite interpretability […]
Read MoreIs There But One “Kabbalah”? The Kabbalah, like many of the world’s great spiritual and textual traditions, is multi-layered and multi-textured. Those who approach it must inevitably focus upon one or two of its several aspects, while de-emphasizing and even ignoring others. The result of this process of selection is that it can appear that […]
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