Az Izraelben élő kanadai filozófusprofesszor, Dr. Elliott Malamet ötrészes előadássorozata angol nyelven.
03. 24. 18:00 Israel and the Ethics of War - Izrael és a háború etikája - angol nyelvű előadás magyar szinkrontolmácsolással
A sorozat további előadásai angol nyelven:
03. 25. 18:00 Foundations of Jewish Ethics
03. 26. 18:00 Ethics of Love and the Family
03. 27. 18:00 Ethics of Speech
03. 31. 18:00 Medical Ethics
REGISZTRÁCIÓ
Az előadások (03.25.-03.31.) helyszíne: Ashkenazium (1052, Budapest, Károly krt. 22. – bejárat a Röser Udvarból)
Dr. Elliott Malamet taught English literature, as well as Jewish Ethics and Jewish Thought, for 25 years in Canadian universities before making aliyah with his family in 2013. He lectured in Israeli literature for several years at the Hebrew University and now teaches Jewish Ethics at Yeshivat Machanaim, the Schechter Institute, and the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies.
24. 03. Israel and the Ethics of War (lecture with Hungarian translation)
a) Does Human Life Have a Price Tag? Jewish Law and the Ransoming of Hostages. The ransoming of hostages is by no means new phenomenon in Jewish history, as Jewish communities faced this painful dilemma repeatedly. We will examine how Jewish law historically viewed this problem, and how it weighed off the safety and return of those being imprisoned, with the possible long-term fallout for the Jewish community of negotiating with their captors. Does halacha believe that there is a price that is too high to pay for the return of hostages?
b) Are There Innocent Civilians in War? What does Jewish law have to say about the distinction between civilians and combatants in a time of war? Should Israel strike targets which will kill Hamas terrorists, knowing that innocent Gazans will surely die at the very same time? Should Israel prioritize the life of its soldiers over that of enemy civilians, or should protecting all civilian life be the first priority in war? Does Hamas' policy of embedding themselves among civilians make the entire moral calculus impossible to calibrate?
c) War and The Ethics of Proportionality In recent conflicts between Israel and its enemies, discussions of “proportionality” have soon emerged after Israel has responded to attacks by Hamas or Hezbollah. What does that term entail? Is it strictly quantitative, meaning, that the number of casualties on each side should be roughly similar to achieve proportionality? Or is it less about numbers and more about results/consequences, which would say it is about military actions and the harm they cause are out of proportion to their military benefits, especially if the same results could have been achieved by less harmful means? We will thus explore the crucial question of what does “proportionality” mean in the current war in Israel, and also the concept of a “just war” in Jewish and general ethics.
25. 03. Foundations of Jewish Ethics
a) Can You Be Good Without God? Is morality entirely subjective? If so, can we say anything authoritative about right and wrong, or are good and evil merely a matter of personal taste? Must ethics be grounded in God to be universal?
b) Judaism and Natural Law. Does Judaism recognize reason as a viable alternative to faith? Is there a place for Natural law in Jewish thought?
c) Can God Be Unethical (the Akedah). Does the divine command to Abraham—in Genesis 22--to sacrifice Isaac, raise questions about God’s own morality?
26. 03. Ethics of Love and the Family
a) Judaism and the Art of Love. What does three thousand years of Jewish wisdom have to contribute to our current dilemmas with intimacy? How can we learn, in Erich Fromm’s phrase, the “art of loving?” How do narratives from Genesis reflect some of the core difficulties involved in relating to the other and accepting responsibility within a romantic partnership?
b) Moral Dilemmas in Honoring Parents. This lecture examines what responsibility children have to their parents in Judaism, as well as the obligations that parents have towards their children. Can you argue with your parents and in what way? What if your father or mother is abusive – does the commandment to honour still stand? When is asserting parental authority an unwise thing?
c) Sexuality within Jewish Ethical Teachings. How does Judaism deal with the delicate topic of sexuality, before and during a marriage or partnership. Does Judaism require a new sexual ethic to fit the mindset of modernity, or can Jewish wisdom impart something that is a necessary corrective to the sexual mores of contemporary life. We will also analyze the range of opinions and disagreements within Jewish law on a host of issues related to this topic.
27. 03. The Ethics of Speech
a) Judaism on Free Speech and the Risk of Incitement. We will examine the thorny problem of the tension between free speech and the possibility of inciting violence or harassment. We will examine the view of John Stuart Mill in his classic, On Liberty, and also analyze certain key American Supreme Court rulings on these issues. We will explore how the Jewish view on the limits of free speech differs somewhat from the traditions of American law and Western liberalism as a whole. We will then focus on the issue of pro-Palestinian protests and encampments on college campuses, and analyze where the line runs between freedom of expression and harassment of others.
b) Honesty and Lying. Is honesty always the “best policy”? In what circumstances does Judaism not only permit, but encourage lying? We will examine the Jewish ethical perspective in relation to both Christian thought (Augustine) as well as that of modern philosophers like Kant.
c) Gossip and Confidentiality. Is gossip merely a trivial matter or an activity that causes permanent harm? What are the different gradations of gossip in Jewish ethics? Is the prohibition on sharing something that was told to you in confidence a permanent state of affairs, or are there situations where confidentiality may and should be broken?
31. 03. Medical Ethics – Abortion; Euthanasia; Covid 19 and the Ethics of Triage
a) How does Judaism think about some of the most contentious issues of our time connected to the beginning and end of life. In this session we will begin by exploring the question of abortion, which has a long history in both halacha and canon law. What constitutes “personhood” as understood in Jewish texts?
b) We will then turn to end of life moral challenges. With rapid improvements in health care and technology, people are living far longer than in previous eras. At the same time, families often face the agonizing dilemma regarding the quality of life of loved ones and the ensuing ethical quandaries that the practice of euthanasia raises. We will not only explore Jewish teachings on euthanasia, but also discuss the difficulties in applying traditional moral codes, formulated long ago, in the modern age with its historically new set of technologies.
c) Finally, we will discuss triage, which is ordinarily understood to be the assignment of degrees of urgency to wounds or illnesses to decide the order of treatment, or in cases of war or natural disaster, to decide which casualties require immediate life-saving attention. During the pandemic, medical ethicists and hospital administrators around the world has to make life and death decisions involving triage, for instance, on how certain vital resources—for instance, ventilators and vaccines-- should be allocated.
