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Re: orion-list Kuhn and Popper and history of scholarship



I'm no expert on Popper, but it is my impression that his stock has
declined in the world of academic philosophy.

I am a proponent of the theory or hypothesis--I would say the
observation--that some Essenes lived at Qumran, including during the time
of Herod the Great, and that some Essenes wrote some Qumran mss, including
S, pesharim, MMT, 4Q477 and others. Is that too vaguely formulated?

I suggest there is no adequate history of Qumran scholarship in print, at
least that I have seen. I welcome discussion. Here are a few notes on
bibliography, in case they are helpful. In addition to Popper, Kuhn, Golb,
the current issue JBL article by Shedinger, in no particular order: Joseph
M. Baumgarten "The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Threat to Halakah?" Tradition: a
Journal of Orthodox Thought 1 (1958-59) 209-21, answering no, and JB
supports the Essene identification. A. I. Baumgarten, "Crisis in the
Scrollery: A Dying Consensus" Judaism 44 (1995) 399-413.  J. Kissinger,
"Archaeology as 'Wild Magic': The DSS in Popular Fiction," J. of American
Culture 21 (Fall 1998) 75-81 Schiffman, Reclaiming book and his article in
Jewish Studies 31 (1991) 3-14, "Confessionalism and the Study of the DSS."
That article is cited and partly refuted, inter alia, in G. Nickelsburg's
article in the SBL 50 year volume ed Kugler and Schuller (please see
Avital's orion web bibilography for details), and the responses to GN
there. Also see Wall Street Journal (number not at hand; I could supply if
interested) on Yizhar Hirschfeld advocating Essenes at Ein Gedi and
affirming the reclaim the Qumran scrolls for Jews sentiment (though Essenes
are Jews).. E. Ullmann-Margalit, "Writings, Ruins, and Their Reading: The
DS Discoveries as a Case Study in Theory Formation and Scientific
Interpretation," Social Research 839-70, contains little reference to
philosophy of science; repeats the claim  "The appelation Essene occurs
nowhere in that [Qumran] document..." (846), though its Hebrew original is
in the mss. Siegfried Wagner, Die Essener in der Wissenschaftlichen
Discussion (1960, BZAW). J. Trever, A Personal Account. Y. Yadin in Eretz
Israel Sukenik Volume. Wm. Brownlee, "My Eight Years of Scroll Research,"
Duke Divinity School Bulletin v21 n3 (Nov 1956) 68-81. My article in The
DSS After Fifty Years vol 2, ed P. Flint & J. VanderKam. Adam & Burchard,
Antike Berichte uber die Essener. F. C. Conybeare, Philo About the
Contemplative Life... (Oxford, 1895, with an important excursus on history
of scholarship). H. E. del Medico, Le mythe des esseniens (Paris 1958).
Johann C. Happach, De Essaeorum Nomine (1743-44). J Lightfoot appendix on
Essenes in Colossians, Philemon rev ed. and in collected essays. J. Carion
& P. Melanchthon, Chronicle (1532ff). A. dei Rossi, Me'or Enayim. the JJ
Scaliger N. Serarius debates circa 1605.

best,
Stephen Goranson
Durham NC






For private reply, e-mail to Stephen Goranson <goranson@duke.edu>
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