Spring Shapiro Lecture with Dr. Sam Lebens
20 Mar 2023
In the Hebrew Bible, Moses declares that he is establishing a covenant “with those who are standing here with us this day before the Lord our God, and with those who are not with us here this day” (Deut 29:13-14). This claim generates significant theological problems. What does it mean for a community to persist in the face of substantial change to the community’s beliefs, rituals, and practices? How can people be bound to a community before they have been born? And what does it mean for two ancient religions, meeting in the context of interfaith dialogue, to carry the history of their traditions with them into that encounter? This lecture will seek to respond to these questions by articulating a theory of communal identity over time.
Samuel Lebens is associate professor of philosophy at the University of Haifa. He works in a wide range of philosophical areas including, metaphysics, epistemology, the history of early analytic philosophy, the philosophy of literature and fiction, and the philosophy of Judaism, and religion more broadly. Recent books include The Principles of Judaism (Oxford University Press), and Philosophy of Religion: The Basics (Routledge).