Jacob Taubes

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Jacob Taubes (born 1923, Vienna - d. March 21, 1987, Berlin) was a sociologist of religion, philosopher, and scholar of Judaism.

Taubes was born into an old rabbinical family. He obtained his doctorate in 1947 for a thesis on "Occidental Eschatology" and initially taught religious studies and Jewish studies in the United States.

From 1965 he was Professor of Jewish Studies and Hermeneutics at the Free University of Berlin. He has influenced many contemporary thinkers such as Giorgio Agamben and Peter Sloterdijk.

Taubes' books include Abendländische Eschatologie (Occidental Eschatology) and The Political Theology of Paul [Stanford UP, 2004].

[edit] References

• Joshua Robert Gold, "Jacob Taubes: 'Apocalypse From Below'", Telos 134 (Spring 2006): 140–56.