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Philosophy • Jewish Studies

I am a professor of philosophy and Jewish studies. I have taught in Berlin, Sussex, London, Graz and Vermont. I am Visiting Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Middlebury College. I received a PhD from the Free University of Berlin, and an MA and BA from Goddard College.

I teach Continental Philosophy and the Philosophy of Race. My expertise is in 19th and 20th century German philosophy and modern Jewish thought. I was the Kurt David Brühl Guest Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Graz (AT), Visiting Faculty at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IS), tenured faculty in the Department of Humanities at the University of Roehampton (UK), Assistant Director of the German-Jewish Studies Centre at the University of Sussex (UK), Research Fellow at the Kluge Center at The Library of Congress (US) and the Hans Jonas Center in the Department of Philosophy of the Free University of Berlin (DE). I teach in German and English, and have received research awards from the British Academy, Senate of Berlin, and the DFG.

A list of selected publications can be found here: middlebury.edu/college/people/eric-jacobson and a few articles and translations here at middlebury.academia.edu/EricLeviJacobson

Spring Term 2023

PHIL 0245A Critical Theory and Philosophy


Critical theory is a social and political philosophy that emerged from 19th century continental thought in relation to political economy, psychoanalysis and aesthetic theory. It is concerned with the application of philosophy to “the abolition of social injustice” as Max Horkheimer once noted. This is an introductory, discussion-based seminar where we will begin with Hegel and Marx and read primary texts from the Frankfurt School on alienation, material culture, and dialectical reasoning. Authors to include: Adorno, Benjamin, Butler, Habermas, Jaeggi, Marcuse. We will conclude with a selection from contemporary critical race theory, performative and social philosophy.

Schedule: 7:30pm-10:25pm on Tuesday (Feb 13, 2023 to May 15, 2023)

Location: Twilight Hall 201

https://courses.middlebury.edu/hub/mcug/202320/phil/0245a

Winter Term 2023

Philosophy of Fascism

Philosophy of Fascism in the work of Adorno, Arendt and Benjamin
Was the previous US administration fascist? Was it comparable to 20th century European fascism? Upon finding refuge in America, several German-Jewish philosophers sought to understand the terms fascism, authoritarianism and totalitarianism. They focused on morality, participation and subjectivity rather than the figure of the dictator. They asked if this could happen in America. We will begin with a survey of contemporary debates and then read selections from Adorno/Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment (1947), Adorno, The Authoritarian Personality (1950), and Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951). We will conclude with Benjamin’s Thesis on the Philosophy of History (1940).

SCHEDULE: 10:30am-12:30pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
6:30pm-8:30pm on Wednesday

https://courses.middlebury.edu/hub/mcug/202310/jwst/1019a

Spring Term 2022

PHIL 150: Introduction to the Western Philosophical Tradition

This course will introduce students to fundamental philosophical issues concerning the nature of reality (metaphysics), the possibility of knowledge (epistemology), and the nature of value (ethical theory) through a reading of a number of important primary texts of thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Kierkegaard, Mill, Nietzsche, and Freud. 3 hrs. lecture, 3 hrs. discussion

Winter Term 2022

JWST1019A-W22 Philosophy of Fascism

Philosophy of Fascism in the work of Adorno, Arendt and Benjamin
Was the previous US administration fascist? Was it comparable to 20th century European fascism? Upon finding refuge in America, several German-Jewish philosophers sought to understand the terms fascism, authoritarianism and totalitarianism. They focused on morality, participation and subjectivity rather than the figure of the dictator. They asked if this could happen in America. We will begin with a survey of contemporary debates and then read selections from Adorno/Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment (1947), Adorno, The Authoritarian Personality (1950), and Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951). We will conclude with Benjamin’s Thesis on the Philosophy of History (1940).

M/T/Th, 10:30–12:30, Axinn 232 (AM)
M, 6:30– 8:30 (PM)

Dr. Eric Jacobson, ejacobson@middlebury.edu 
Office hours: M, 2-4, or by appt. 

Course Catalogue:  JWST1019A-W22 

Winter Term 2018:

PHIL/JWST 1016 Hannah Arendt and the Politics of Philosophy

Hannah Arendt: The Politics of Philosophy
Hannah Arendt was one of the most dynamic and original thinkers of the twentieth century. She once described her philosophy as “thinking without banisters,” which meant engaging the ideas and events of her time without ideological preconditions. Topics of her work included the Holocaust and Israel, race theory and racism in America, nationalism, totalitarianism, and moral responsibility under dictatorship. Controversial but always innovative, her work provides an immediate gateway to the discussion of ethics, politics, and the purpose of philosophy. We will read selections from her Eichmann in Jerusalem, Responsibility and Judgement, Origins of Totalitarianism, and The Jewish Writings. We will also watch interviews and the feature film from director Margarethe von Trotte, Hannah Arendt (2012).