Jacob Talmon between Zionism and Cold War Liberalism

History of European Ideas 34 (2):146-157 (2008)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

The paper focuses on the problematic relationship between Talmon's liberalism and Zionism. My argument is that Talmon's nationalism (Zionism included)—historicist, romantic, visionary—lived in permanent tension with his liberalism—empiricist, pluralist, pragmatic. His critique of totalitarian democracy, reflecting his British experience, emerged independently from his Zionism, grounded in Central European nationalism. The two represented different worlds. Talmon lived in both, serving as an ambassador in-between them, without ever bringing them together. The essay's first section describes the political education of the young Jacob Talmon (née Flajszer) and the making of The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy. It demonstrates the independence of Talmon's Cold War liberal project from his Zionism. The second section places Talmon in the context of Cold War liberal discourse, showing how integral his critique of revolutionary politics was to contemporary liberalism. The third illustrates the tensions between Talmon's view of Jewish history and his liberalism, between his Zionism and his critique of revolutionary politics. Focusing on Talmon's analyses of nationalism, it highlights the ambiguity of his Zionism. ☆ Originally a lecture at the conference on “Jacob Talmon and Totalitarianism Today: Legacy and Revision”, the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Jerusalem, 28 December 2006.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Jacob Talmon between “good” and “bad” nationalism.Ezra Mendelsohn - 2008 - History of European Ideas 34 (2):197-205.
Beyond Liberalism.R. T. Allen - 1999 - Tradition and Discovery 26 (1):16-18.
Nietzsche and Zionism.Jacob Golomb - 2007 - New Nietzsche Studies 7 (3-4):55-74.
From labour Zionism to New Zionism.Lilly Weissbrod - 1981 - Theory and Society 10 (6):777-803.
Profit, Automation and the Cold War.Jacob Morris - 1960 - Science and Society 24 (1):1 - 12.

Analytics

Added to PP
2013-12-28

Downloads
14 (#846,545)

6 months
3 (#445,838)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?