Lukas Mühlethaler studierte an der Hebräischen Universität von Jerusalem jüdisches Denken (maḥševet israel) und promovierte an der Yale University in Arabistik und Islamwissenschaft mit einer Arbeit über den jüdischen Philosophen Ibn Kammūna. Nach einem Forschungsaufenthalt am "Research Unit Intellectual History of the Islamicate World" am Institut für Islamwissenschaft der Freien Universität Berlin war er am dortigen Institut für Judaistik von 2013-2019 Juniorprofessor und ist seit 2019 Professor für jüdische Philosophie und Ästhetik.

Im Wintersemester 2023/24 biete ich die folgenden Kurse an:

14628 (Hs) Rabbinic Judaism and Contemporary Challenges (Monday 12-2 PM, Room 0.2002)

(Unterrichtssprache Englisch / in English)

The seminar looks at positions and practices in Rabbinic Judaism (both conservative and orthodox) that address contemporary social, ethical, medical, and political challenges. We will look at how representatives of these traditions (both poskim and their critics) perceive these challenges and how they relate the traditions they consider normative to these challenges in order to formulate answers and suggest new practices. The instructor will propose a list of themes (with relevant source texts and secondary literature) but at least two sessions will be planned in collaboration with the participants of the course. Readings and discussion will be in English.

14611 (Lk) Moderne jüdische Religionsphilosophie in hebräischer Sprache / Modern Jewish Philosophy of Religion in Hebrew (Monday 2-4 PM, Room 0.2002)

(Unterrichtssprache Deutsch und Englisch / in both German and English)

[English description below] Im Zentrum des Lektürekurses stehen religionsphilosophische Texte jüdischer Denkerinnen und Denker aus dem 20. und 21. Jahrhundert in hebräischer Sprache. Wir lesen ausgewählte Abschnitte aus diesen Texten im hebräischen Original und gelegentlich längere Passagen aus dem Kontext in Übersetzung. Die Veranstaltung richtet sich grundsätzlich und Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmern mit Hebräischkenntnissen. Unterrichtssprache ist Deutsch und Englisch, wobei Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer nur eine dieser Sprachen sprechen müssen.

The reading course focuses on texts in Hebrew by Jewish thinkers from the 20th and 21st centuries in the philosophy of religion. We will read selected passages from these texts in the original Hebrew and occasionally longer passages from the context in translation. The course is generally aimed at participants with some knowledge of Hebrew. The language of instruction is German and English, and participants need only speak one of these languages.

14610 (V) Central Questions in Jewish Philosophy (Monday 4–6 PM, Room 0.2002)

(Unterrichtssprache Englisch / in English)

Jewish philosophy, as understood today, emerged from academic research concerns in the 19th century and came to include works at the intersection of Judaism and philosophy. The course, therefore, also introduces central questions that arise at this intersection and are answered through philosophical arguments. Philosophical texts from all periods of Jewish thought, from antiquity to the present, serve as representative case studies. At the same time, the course introduces approaches, problems, topics, and areas that have remained marginalized in present accounts of Jewish philosophy.

14570 (C) Communicating Research (ISME) Tuesday 10-12 AM, online)

This colloquium aims to assist students in their final semesters in selecting and communicating a topic for their thesis.

14631 (V) Introduction to the History of Jewish knowledge (Tuesday 12–2 PM, Room 0.2001)

(Unterrichtssprache Englisch / in English)

This lecture course utilizes questions and methods from the field of the history of knowledge ("Wissensgeschichte") to introduce students to various traditions of Jewish knowledge. Using examples from antiquity to the present, we explore the forms and contents of knowledge, the processes of knowledge production and accumulation, the individuals who act as knowledge carriers, the diverse social contexts in which knowledge thrives, the methods of knowledge communication and dissemination, and the practical applications of knowledge. We do not treat "Jewish knowledge" as a fixed or static category. Instead, our goal is to comprehend the processes by which the contents and forms of knowledge come to be considered and accepted as "Jewish." Therefore, this lecture course serves a dual purpose: introducing students to diverse Jewish knowledge traditions while also critically examining the parameters that have contributed to their classification as such.