Totality and community: Rosenzweig versus Hegel

Abstract

In his masterpiece The Star of Redemption, Franz Rosenzweig (1886-1929) shows as the notion of totality is a constant and central reference in the history of philosophy from Ionia to Jena. This paper aims to explain a different meaning of the concept of totality, reconsidering some aspects of the question starting from the philosophical reflection of Franz Rosenzweig and his opposition to the Hegelian thought. In particular, according to Rosenzweig, the concept of totality is the essential background in which one could rethink the concept of community. For this reason, the second part of this paper is focused on the implications of a different concept of totality embodied by Judaism.