Martyrdom: A Philosophical Perspective

Martyrdom has played and continues to play a dominant role in the religious imagination of many. Jews and Christians alike conceive of their martyrs as exceptional people of faith who express exceptional love and devotion to God. The purpose of this paper is to explore some of the conceptual features of martyrdom by virtue of which it has its role and to show, using those very features and using Simone Weil's observations, that martyrdom cannot mark the logical climax of the believer's love of God. Martyrdom has played and continues to play a dominant role in the religious imagination of many. Jews and Christians alike conceive of their martyrs as exceptional people of faith who express exceptional love and devotion to God. The purpose of this paper is to explore some of the conceptual features of martyrdom by virtue of which it has its role and to show, using those very features and using Simone Weil's observations, that martyrdom cannot mark the logical epitome of the believer's love of God. 1 The paper has five parts. In the first part, I briefly present some of the philosophical presuppositions that underlie the paper's methodology and the manners in which they influence the selection of sources and the ways in which the sources are dealt with. The substantial part of the paper begins in section II, in which I approach the concept of martyrdom by means of the Talmudic discussion of " afflictions of love. " I examine the relation between the two concepts and argue for a logical continuum between " afflictions of love " and " martyrdom " – deadly " afflictions of love. " In the third and fourth parts, I distinguish different types of martyrs on the basis of their differing conceptions of their afflictions. In the third part, I distinguish the martyr whose death can be seen as a loving sacrifice to God (henceforth the " exemplary martyr ") from the masochist. In the fourth part, I distinguish both from the Socratic martyr, the Maimonidean martyr and the martyr who does not feel the pain of his execution. On