Germanness and Judaism. Limits of Secularisation and Dialectic of Emancipation

Abstract

This paper deals with a genealogy of anti-Semitism in German-speaking Europe. The starting point consists in a conceptual history of “secularisation”, from its juridical origin to its transformation into a philosophical-historical category. In this way, I bring to light the relevance of Hegel’s concept of mundanisation (Verweltlichung) in order to comprehend the specificity of the relation between Germanness and Judaism. Finally, I present some reflections on the myth of a German-Jewish symbiosis (assimilation), the emergence of sionism and the possibility of a Jewish dissimilation. Keywords: Jewish Question, Germany, Emancipation, Secularisation, Mundanisation, Antisemitism, Antijudaism.