Louis E. Newman 
Past Imperatives 
Studies in the History and Theory of Jewish Ethics

Past Imperatives explores the nature and development of Jewish ethics by analyzing three important sets of issues: the relationship between Jewish law and ethics, the relationship between Jewish ethics and theology, and the problems and prospects for constructing a contemporary Jewish ethic. The penetrating and provocative essays are drawn from a number of fields, including legal theory, literary theory, and theory of religion. These studies illuminate many previously uninvestigated aspects of Jewish biomedical ethics, covenant theology, and textual interpretation in Judaism.



By exploring these issues within the larger context of historical and theoretical work in religious studies, Past Imperatives moves beyond previous work in Jewish ethics, which has largely sought to offer moral guidance from a Jewish perspective. This volume boldly confronts the fact that Judaism encompasses many, sometimes contradictory, ethical perspectives and investigates their theological underpinnings, how they have developed, and how they differ from other moral and/or religious perspectives.

Table of Content

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part I. Ethics and Law

1. Law, Virtue, and Supererogation in the Halakha: The Problem of Lifnim Mishurat Hadin Reconsidered
2. Ethics as Law, Law as Religion: Reflections on the Problem of Law and Ethics in Judaism
3. Covenant and Contract: A Framework for the Analysis of Jewish Ethics

Part II. Ethics and Theology

4. The Quality of Mercy: On the Duty to Forgive in the Judaic Tradition
5. Jewish Theology and Bioethics
6. Nature and Torah, Creation and Revelation: On the Possibility of a Natural Law in Judaism
7. Religious Faith, Historical Relativism, and the Prospects for Modern Jewish Ethics

Part III. Methodological Issues in Contemporary Jewish Ethics

8. Woodchoppers and Respirators: The Problem of Interpretation in Contemporary Jewish Ethics
9. Text and Tradition in Contemporary Jewish Bioethics
10. Talking Ethics with Strangers: A View from Jewish Tradition

Conclusion. New Directions in the Study of the Ethics of Judaism

Notes

References

Index

About the author

Louis E. Newman is Professor of Religion and Director of the Judaic Studies Program at Carleton College. He is coeditor of Contemporary Jewish Ethics and Morality.