In post-Holocaust philosophy, anti-Semitism has come to be seen as a paradigmatic political and ideological evil. Jews Out of the Question examines the role that opposition to anti-Semitism has played in shaping contemporary political philosophy. Elad Lapidot argues that post-Holocaust philosophy identifies the fundamental, epistemological evil of anti-Semitic thought not in thinking against Jews, but in thinking of Jews. In other words, what philosophy denounces as anti-Semitic is the figure of "the Jew" in thought. Lapidot reveals how, paradoxically, opposition to anti-Semitism has generated a rejection of Jewish thought in post-Holocaust philosophy. Through critical readings of political philosophers such as Adorno, Horkheimer, Sartre, Arendt, Badiou, and Nancy, the book contends that by rejecting Jewish thought, the opposition to anti-Semitism comes dangerously close to anti-Semitism itself, and at work in this rejection, is a problematic understanding of the relations between politics and thought-a troubling political epistemology. Lapidot's critique of this political epistemology is the book's ultimate aim.

AcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart I: Anti-Anti-Semitism1. Anti-Heidegger: Anatomy of Anti-Anti-Semitism2. Anti-Semitic Creation of Jews: Adorno & Horkheimer to Sartre3. Jewish Creation of Anti-Semitism: Arendt and Badiou4. The Anti-Anti-Semitic Jew: Jean-Luc NancyPart II: Anti-Semitism5. Renan's Anti-Semitic Science6. Aphenomenology of the Jewish Question: Bauer and Marx7. Triumph of Judaism: From Marr to HitlerEpilogue: The End of Anti-Anti-Semitism as Introduction to TalmudBibliographyIndex