The Pale God: Israeli Secularism and Spinoza's Philosophy of Culture (Israel: Society) (Hardcover)
The Pale God examines the relationship between secularism and religious tradition. It begins with a description of the secular options as expressed by Israeli intellectuals, and describes how these options have led to a dead end. A new option must be sought, and one of the key sources for this option is the works of Spinoza. The author explains that unlike Nietzsche, who discussed "the death of God," Spinoza tried to undermine the authority of religious virtuosos and establish the image of a rational "Pale God." Such changes could channel religious tradition to the basic principles of secular political rule. The author demonstrates that the secular option is inherent in Israeli society, fits the type of secularism that Zionism instilled in the Jewish people, and complements the traditional trends deeply rooted in that society.
Gideon Katz (Ph.D. Haifa University) is a lecturer at the Ben-Gurion Research Institute, Ben-Gurion University in the Negev. His research focuses on Israeli culture, Jewish Thought and Ancient Philosophy. He is the author of the book The Soul is Big, Life is Small: The Duality of the Soul According to Plato's Phaedo and Republic (Hebrew University Press, 2005), and co-editor of Iyunim bitkumat yisrael.