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Jacob Talmon

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Jacob Leib Talmon (1916-1980) was an Israeli historian in the hebrew university in Jerusalem that studied the Modern Age, especially the French Revolution. He coined the terms Totalitarian Democracy and Political Messianism. He recieved the Israeli prize on 1957. His main works are "The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy" and "Political Messiainism - The Romantic Phase" . Jacob Talmon has argued that Rousseau's position may best be understood as "totalitarian democracy"; that is, as a philosophy in which liberty is realized "only in the pursuit and attainment of an absolute collective purpose".


Author of the books : The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy, 1952; The Nature of Jewish History-Its Universal Significance, 1957; Political Messianism - The Romantic Phase, 1960; The Unique and The Universal, 1965; Romanticism and Revolt, 1967; Israel among the Nations, 1968; The Age of Violence ,1974 ; The Myth of Nation and Vision of Revulotion , The Origins of Ideological Polarization in the 20th Century ,1981 ; The Riddle of the Present and the Cunning of History 2000 (hebrew , p.m.)

Excerpts from the "The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy", (London: Secker and Warburg, 1955), Intro, Part I, Part II and Conclusion

On The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy

Israel Among The Nations, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London 1970

The Unique and the Universal, Secker & Warburg, London 1965

Excerpts from an "Open Letter to Prime Minister Begin Urging Israel's withdrawal from the Occupied Territories and Warning of a Future Disaster", 1980

Two Statements on the Mid-East War, 1973


See also