Alexander Altmann, “The Encounter of Faith and Reason in the Western Tradition and Its Significance Today,” with an Introduction by Leo Strauss

Abstract:The text is an annotated transcription of Alexander Altmann’s lecture at the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, University of Chicago, October 1961, with a brief introduction by Leo Strauss. An introductory essay by the editor serves to situate the encounter in their larger scholarly projects and point to a few crucial issues in Strauss’s enigmatic introduction, which sets the stage for Altmann’s lucid presentation. In particular, it points to their respective stances toward Julius Guttmann, the preeminent figure in German Jewish scholarship around 1930, whom both mentioned in the text. The differences pertain to the understanding of medieval Jewish philosophy in its relation to Christianity—a topic that was little problematic for Altmann, who conceived of the Western tradition as an ongoing Jewish-Christian dialogue, whereas Strauss had sought to sketch a new understanding of the medieval Jewish enlightenment in opposition to Christian thought. Altmann’s lecture is a continuous dialogue with Strauss’s position on the encounter of “faith” and “reason” in the Western tradition.