Two Dimensions of Nothingness: Gershom Scholem and the Paradoxes of Jewish Mysticism

Authors

  • Piotr Sawczyński Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15633/lie.2364

Keywords:

Judaism, kabbalah, Gershom Scholem, nothingness, Isaac Luria, Franz Kafka

Abstract

The article analyzes Gershom Scholem’s kabbalistic philosophy through the notion
of nothingness, being a crucial notion of Jewish kabbalah. I argue that Scholem’s thought
might be called the “two dimensions of nothingness” which correspond to the concepts of
creation and revelation. I analyze the nothingness of creation against the background
of the Lurianic kabbalah whereas the nothingness of revelation is analyzed through the
prism of Franz Kafka’s literature. The result of the analysis is the original interpretation of
Scholem’s thought, in which nothingness fails to connote nihilism, having instead a substantial
potential of productivity.

Author Biography

  • Piotr Sawczyński, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie
    Piotr Sawczyński – filozof i filolog, doktorant w Katedrze Filozofii Polityki Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego oraz junior research fellow na uniwersytetach w Chicago i Nottingham. Autor książki Polityczność podmiotu (Kraków 2016). Publikował m.in. w „Znaku”, „Praktyce Teoretycznej”, „Pressjach” i „Politei”. Przygotowuje rozprawę doktorską poświęconą żydowskim korzeniom podmiotowości politycznej.

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Published

2018-03-31

Issue

Vol. 23 No. 2 (2017)

Section

Articles

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