A Biblical Alternative to Greek Political Philosophy

Since freedom from slavery or domination and material prosperity express central goals of the Torah, liberal democracy can fill an important role in Judaism. But Judaism also seeks other aims, diverging from those of ancient greek philosophy, so that liberal democracy should serve it, rather than as some ultimate endpoint or man-made solution, instead as a platform or springboard for approaching the divine.


Joshua I. Weinstein, “Goalkeeping: A Biblical Alternative to Greek Political Philosophy and the Limits of Liberal Democracy,” Studies in Jewish Civilization, 2018.

Dr. Weinstein is a Senior Fellow at the Herzl Institute and author of Plato’s Threefold City and Soul (Cambridge, 2018). His analytic and integrative work on classical Judaism and Greek philosophy has appeared in publications such as Classical PhilologyJournal of Jewish Thought and PhilosophyInterpretation and Journal of Semitic Studies.

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