Werk und Wirkung des Rabbiners und Philosophen Simha (Simone) Luzzatto (1583?-1663)

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Giuseppe Veltri
• Subject Area: Religious Studies and Jewish Studies
• Term: from 2011 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 200794517

• Final Report Year: 2015

Final Report Abstract

The project has highlighted two important aspects of Luzzatto's thinking: the political and economic awareness of Jewish elite and the Sceptic orientation of his thought. These two elements show the relevance of Luzzatto's thinking as an important contribution to the integrative process of the Jewish community from the 16th to 19th centuries using the example of Venice. During this period the perspective of Jewish community changes from a ghettoized group in Christian society to an integrated component of modern society. Up to the present day this element represents an ideal of modern society based on equal rights. At the same time the elaboration of a Sceptic philosophy played an important role in the evaluation of rational thinking and political authority. For the first time both of these aspects are developed in Venice by Luzzatto's Discourse and Socrates, which have promoted an interesting intellectual debate in Jewish and Christian circles. By showing the relation of Luzzatto's theories with Politic and Sceptical thought of Renaissance and Early modern period, the project opened new perspectives of research about the influence of Luzzatto's thought on the development of Jewish communities and his role in the elaboration of new political theories during 18th and 19*th centuries. Luzzatto's reflections are focused on the topics of human reason and religious tolerance, and expressed the complex demand of the Jewish people for a full integration on the one hand and the preservation of their peculiar identities on the other. However, Luzzatto's philosophical perspective also allows for a wider and more general reflection on the issues of tolerance in communal life, which are both essential subjects in the current political and cultural debates throughout Europe.

Publications

• Economic and Social Arguments and the Doctrine of the Antiperistasis in Simone Luzzatto's Political Thought: Venetian Reverberations of Francis Bacon's Philosophy?, in: Frühneuzeit-info, 22 (2011) n. 1-2, pp. 23-32
  Giuseppe Veltri
  
• The Last Will and Testament of Simone Luzzatto (1583?-1663) and the Only Known Manuscript of the "Discorso" (1638). Newly Discovered Manuscripts from the State Archive of Venice and the Marciana Library, Venice, in: European Journal of Jewish Studies, 5 (2011), n. 1, pp. 125-146
  Giuseppe Veltri, Gianfranco Miletto and Guido Bartolucci
  
• "Dannare I'universale per il particolare?" Colpa individuate e pena collettiva nel pensiero di Rabbi Simone Luzzatto, in: Rassegna Mensile di Israel, 77 (2012), n.1- 2, pp. 65-81
  Giuseppe Veltri
  
• "Identity of Essentiality of the Jewish People: The Diaspora and the Political Theories of Simone Luzzatto in the Jewish Thought of the 20th Century", in: Civilta del Mediterraneo, 12 (2013), n. 23-24: pp. 249-269
  Giuseppe Veltri
  
• Scritti politico-filosofici di un ebreo scettico nella Venezia del Seicento, Milano: Bombiani 2013, p. 640
  Simone Luzzatto, (ed.) Giuseppe Veltri