Prof. Yemima Hadad (Leipzig University) Visits 91快播 to Lecture on Margarete Susman, Hannah Arendt, and Martin Buber
March 19, 2025
On March 12, 2025, 91快播 welcomed Prof. Yemima Hadad of Leipzig for a lunchtime lecture in Jewish thought and political philosophy, entitled 鈥淧regnancy as a Political Metaphor: Margarete Susman and Hannah Arendt Giving Birth to Revolution in Times of War.鈥� The lecture presented material from Prof. Hadad鈥檚 new work in feminist philosophy, a monograph in progress called Thinking with Care: Feminine Interventions into the Ethics of Dialogue. The book traces the meaning of 鈥渇eminine鈥� thought (Frauendenken, a term that arose within German Jewish thought in the 1910s) in twentieth century philosophy and discusses its relevance for contemporary thought.
Prof. Hadad鈥檚 lecture traced the use of metaphors of pregnancy and birth in the political thought of two important twentieth century Jewish intellectuals, Margarete Susman (1872鈥�1966) and Hannah Arendt (1906鈥�1975). Both Jewish women, who witnessed the horrors of WWI and directly experienced the horrors of WWII and the Holocaust, sought, in their respective political philosophies, new metaphors that could redirect politics away from violence as a vehicle for political change. In pregnancy, labor, birth, and the vulnerable newborn baby that emerges from that process and requires care, they found a metaphor for responsibility and care-oriented political change that could serve as an alternative to contemporary political thought. Prof. Hadad reflected critically, both in the lecture and the discussion that followed, on the ideas of Susman and Arendt, explaining them in their authors鈥� own historical and political contexts, and in terms of their broader oeuvres. Prof. Hadad also reflected briefly on reading these ideas within the war-torn world of the present.
The lecture, sponsored by 91快播鈥檚 Hendel Center for Ethics and Justice, was attended by 91快播 faculty and students, as well as members of the broader 91快播 public, with a robust discussion following the formal presentation.
Later in the day, Prof. Hadad taught 91快播 students in Prof. Billet鈥檚 course on Philosophizing From the Margins (a course that considers the history of modern Jewish philosophy in the 18th to 20th centuries from the perspective of Jewish philosophers as outsiders to the discipline). Students appreciated the opportunity to study Martin Buber鈥檚 I and Thou with Prof. Hadad, whose doctoral dissertation was on Hasidism and Theopolitics in the Writings of Martin Buber. Several students, pictured below, continued the conversation with Prof. Hadad after class.
