Jacob Talmon
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Jacob Leib Talmon (1916-1980) was Professor of Modern History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has been categorised as a 'Cold War liberal' because of his devout anti-Marxism which permeates his main works.
He notably studied the genealogy of totalitarianism arguing that such political Messianism stemmed from the French Revolution, and stressed the similarities between Jacobinism and Stalinism. He coined the terms Totalitarian Democracy and Political Messianism.
Talmon was born in Poland, into an orthodox Jewish family. He left in 1934 to study at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, then in the British Mandate of Palestine, now Israel. He continued his studies in France but left for London after the Nazi invasion; in 1943 he was awarded a PhD from the London School of Economics.
He received the Israel Prize in 1957. His main works are The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy and Political Messianism: The Romantic Phase. Talmon argued that Rousseau's position may best be understood as "totalitarian democracy"; that is, as a philosophy in which liberty is realized "only in the pursuit and attainment of an absolute collective purpose."
Talmon's anti-utopian liberalism shares affinities with the political thought of Isaiah Berlin, Friedrich August von Hayek and Karl Popper.
[edit] Major works
- The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy, 1952
- The Nature of Jewish History-Its Universal Significance, 1957
- Political Messianism - The Romantic Phase, 1960
- The Unique and The Universal, 1965
- Romanticism and Revolt, 1967
- Israel among the Nations, 1968
- The Age of Violence, 1974
- The Myth of Nation and Vision of Revolution, The Origins of Ideological Polarization in the 20th Century, 1981
- The Riddle of the Present and the Cunning of History 2000 (hebrew, p.m.)
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Excerpts from "The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy", (London: Secker and Warburg, 1955), Intro, Part I, Part II and Conclusion
- On The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy
- Israel Among The Nations, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London 1970
- The Unique and the Universal, Secker & Warburg, London 1965
- Excerpts from an "Open Letter to Prime Minister Begin Urging Israel's withdrawal from the Occupied Territories and Warning of a Future Disaster", 1980
- Two Statements on the Mid-East War, 1973
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Talmon, Jacob Leib |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Polish-born Israeli historian; Professor of Modern History; studied Cold War and totalitarianism; anti-Marxist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1916 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Poland |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1980 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Israel |
