ABSTRACT
The rapidity with which the “hermeneutic renaissance” permeating the philosophy of literature and criticism is gaining increasing popularity in the social sciences in general and in the “psychotherapies,” in particular should not be too surprising. This chapter considers the Talmudic stipulations in order: Talmudic restricting interpretations appeared to be based on two criteria. Those are whether or not overindulgence in eating, drinking, and so on was indicative of an unchangeable form of addiction, and whether the cause of this behavior pattern was endogenous rather than exogenous. Accordingly, the rabbis of the Talmud discussed in much detail the conditions under which one will most likely form evil eating and drinking habits. All the possibilities of extreme deviant conduct attributable to circumstantial mitigations are enumerated and discussed in psychological and legal terms. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
