Tikvah

Jacob Howland


Jacob Howland is McFarlin professor of philosophy (emeritus) at the University of Tulsa. His research focuses on ancient Greek philosophy, history, epic, and tragedy; the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud; Kierkegaard; and literary and philosophical responses to the Holocaust and Soviet totalitarianism.

Latest Content

  1. Response ·

    Watch Gary Saul Morson and Jacob Howland Discuss the Dostoevsky Problem

    By Gary Saul Morson, Jacob Howland, Jonathan Silver

    Committed to developing and supporting the intellectual, religious, and political leaders of the Jewish people and the Jewish state.

    Watch Gary Saul Morson and Jacob Howland Discuss the Dostoevsky Problem
  2. Observation ·

    The Molten Flow of Primordial Chaos, Agitating the Chests of Men—or Not

    By Jacob Howland

    The language of Homer delights in illuminating the world at length. The language of the Bible, by contrast, is compact, but fraught with the agitated flow of emotions.

    The Molten Flow of Primordial Chaos, Agitating the Chests of Men—or Not
  3. Observation ·

    Not Everything Is a Charging Boar

    By Jacob Howland

    The signal achievement of Genesis is to find heroism not just on the field of battle—where Odysseus, too, excels—but on the hardscrabble ground of everyday life.

    Not Everything Is a Charging Boar
  4. Observation ·

    Homeric and Biblical Nobodies

    By Jacob Howland

    Why, in the Hebrew Bible and the Odyssey alike , does the overweening human ambition to become somebody end in lowly banishment and dispersion?

    Homeric and Biblical Nobodies
  5. Observation ·

    Noah and Odysseus: Exposed!

    By Jacob Howland

    What do the Hebrew Bible and Homer have to say about clothes?

    Noah and Odysseus: Exposed!
  6. Observation ·

    Sex and the Ancient City

    By Jacob Howland

    The Hebrew Bible and the Odyssey are both preoccupied by the moral and political consequences of ungoverned sexuality and aggression.

    Sex and the Ancient City
  7. Observation ·

    Should Jews Read Homer?

    By Jacob Howland

    Despite extensive similarities, few readers have studied Genesis together with the Odyssey in hopes of illuminating the human condition. What lies waiting to be discovered?

    Should Jews Read Homer?