Humanities Centre for Advanced Studies: Jewish Scepticism (HCAS, KOFOR)

迈蒙尼德犹太怀疑主义高级研究中心的目标是解决犹太思想和文化中的怀疑主义问题。正如在第一个应用中所表述的那样，怀疑主义在广义上被理解，不仅包括对我们认知前景的特定哲学关注，还包括文化领域的辩证策略、概念和态度。后者表现在一个“永恒的学生”的公开和公正的调查中，他对不同的维度和系统的世俗或启示的知识和接受的权威怀有怀疑。MCAS还支持非犹太人的怀疑主义和（犹太人的）反怀疑主义的研究，这一假设认为，一种现象的独特性质在与其对立面的比较和对比中得到了最好的揭示。在解决犹太怀疑主义（和反怀疑主义）的问题时，MCAS开辟了一个新的研究领域，在其存在的前三年里出版的100多份出版物证明了它的多产性。作为一个多方面的现象，对犹太怀疑主义的充分研究需要多个学科的合作。因此，MCAS一直在努力创造一个令人兴奋的跨学科环境，学术团体关注从古代到今天（犹太）怀疑主义的各个方面。为此，MCAS举办了90多场不同形式的活动（如研讨会、讲座、辩证之夜、阅读之夜、会议和怀疑工作室），为学术和/或公共交流提供了各种平台。在其存在的三年里，MCAS已经在犹太研究的学术领域建立了犹太怀疑主义：怀疑主义越来越被认为是犹太思想和文化的关键因素，其确切程度和性质有待确定和探索。虽然第一个资助期的研究主要致力于从古代到近代早期的犹太怀疑主义的研究，但在其预定的第二个资助期，MCAS试图通过将其研究扩展到20世纪并包括20世纪来发展犹太怀疑主义的研究，正如最初的申请中所建议的那样。第二个资助期的研究将围绕四个年度关键主题进行，这些主题既突出了犹太人的怀疑主义维度，也突出了更普遍的维度：(1)调查与怀疑之间的怀疑主义；（二）知识来源；(3)怀疑主义与语言；(4)怀疑的限度，信仰的限度。除了关注上述四个关键主题外，还将启动另外两个共同项目：《犹太传统怀疑主义百科全书》和《犹太怀疑主义源书》。此外，理查德·波普金（Richard H. Popkin）未发表的关于犹太人怀疑主义的信件将是MCAS工作的亮点。

The goal of the Maimonides Centre for Advanced Studies – Jewish Scepticism was and is to address scepticism in Jewish thought and culture. As formulated in the first application, scepticism is understood in a broad sense, not only comprising particular philosophical concerns about our epistemic prospect, but also including dialectical strategies, concepts, and attitudes in the cultural field. The latter are manifested in the open and unbiased enquiry of a “perpetual student,” who harbours doubts about different dimensions and systems of secular or revealed knowledge and received authorities. Acting on the assumption that the distinctive nature of a phenomenon is best revealed in comparison and contrast to its opposite, MCAS has also supported research on non-Jewish scepticism and (Jewish) anti-scepticism.In addressing the question of Jewish scepticism (and anti-scepticism), MCAS opened up a new field of research, whose fecundity is testified by more than 100 publications produced in the previous three years of its existence.Being a multifaceted phenomenon, the adequate study of Jewish scepticism requires the cooperation of several disciplines. Hence MCAS has constantly strived to create a stimulating interdisciplinary environment with a scholarly community focusing on various aspects of (Jewish) scepticism from antiquity until today. To this end, MCAS has hosted over 90 events in different formats (such as workshops, lectures, dialectical evenings, reading evenings, conferences, and sceptical ateliers), which have provided various platforms for scholarly and/or public exchange.In its three years of existence, MCAS has already established Jewish scepticism in the scholarly landscape of Jewish studies: scepticism is increasingly acknowledged as a pivotal element of Jewish thought and culture, whose precise extent and nature are yet to be determined and explored.While research in the first funding period was primarily devoted to the investigation of Jewish scepticism from antiquity until the early modern period, in its intended second funding period, MCAS seeks to evolve research into Jewish scepticism by extending its investigation up to and including the twentieth century, as suggested in the original application. The research in the second funding period shall be structured around four annual key topics, which highlight both a specifically Jewish dimension of scepticism and a more general dimension: (1) scepticism between enquiry and doubt; (2) sources of knowledge; (3) scepticism and language; (4) limits of scepticism, limits of faith.In addition to focusing on the above four key topics, two additional common projects will be launched: the Encyclopaedia of Scpeticism in Jewish Tradition and a Sourcebook of Jewish Scepticism. Furthermore, the unpublished letters of Richard H. Popkin on Jewish scepticism will be a highlight of MCAS’s work.