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German educated, Jewish social philosopher for whom engagement with Hasidic life and thought and threat from Nazism inspired relocation to Palestine in 1938. His Zionist commitment was qualified by a sense of territory shared with Palestinians; he was a ‘Hebrew Humanist’. He published and lectured widely but his I and Thou book is what he is best known for. Whilst he was critical of self-centredness in philosophy, his own focus on the specialness of I-Thou relations led to criticism that that undervalues more inclusive I-You ones. He is central to the development of Jewish-Christian dialogue with its spirit of mutual appreciation, rooted in a sense of the ‘Eternal Thou’.

Life

• Brief Jewish Virtual Library account of the life and work of Buber

• Buber's life and work from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

• Entry on Buber in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Writings

• I and Thou

• Buber's letter to Gandhi

From a progressive Jewish background, and with legal training, his awareness of the strength of anti-semitism was heightened during the notorious Dreyfus trial in France. This led him to argue that the establishment of a Jewish national homeland was the only solution. Initially he did not believe that this needed necessarily to be in Palestine, but annual meetings of the newly formed World Zionist Organisation (he was elected President) persuaded him that S American or African alternatives would not be acceptable to many Jews.

Life

• Jewish Virtual Library entry on Herzl

• Herzl and Zionism 

Writings

• The Jewish State

Video

Theodor Herzl - the founder of Zionism (3 mins) 

Being a refugee and subsequent prisoner because of his Jewish birthright and political activism, he moved to Palestine and across Europe, living in Russia, France, Spain and especially the UK. In newspaper articles, theoretical treatises and political novels, he produced persuasive commentaries and critiques of both the theory and practice of communism, and traditional religious orthodoxies. Latterly, he became especially interested in parapsychological research. He was certainly independent minded; he was also felt by many to have been personally obstreperous. His writings combine a strong sense of historical perspective and of science; together they shape the intelligent humanism which he vigorously lived by. He also died by it, choosing with his wife the moment when their lives should end.

Life

• Brief obituary of Koestler from Jewish Telegraphic Agency

• Illustrated biography of Koestler from Spartacus Educational with links

• 'The mystery of Arthur Koestler'

Writings

• The Sleepwalkers

• George Orwell on Koestler

One of founders of sociology of knowledge as a background to education and political planning

Life

• Biographies of Mannheim from Encyclopedia.com
• Mannheim and the sociology of knowledge
• Karl Mannheim's Jewish question

Writings

• Ideology and Utopia
• Essays on the Sociology of Knowledge