Abstract

This chapter first examines Cohen’s response to the problem of conversion, the loss of membership in the Jewish community through conversions to Christianity. It then considers his treatment of two fundamental Jewish concepts: the messiah and reconciliation. Cohen understands the messiah concept through the prism of the Kantian philosophy of history. This chapter also treats Cohen’s dispute with Lazarus about Jewish ethics. A last section examines Cohen’s passionate response to the Dreyfus scandal in France.