Robinson Crusoe I: The Individual as a Thought Experiment

Daniel Defoe will put Enlightenment thought to the test in his novel Robinson Crusoe. To help us explore the book, Rabbi Rocklin will answer the following questions:

1. How does Robinson Crusoe develop a rational response to the question of how man should respond to suffering?
2. Why do Crusoe's labors on his island occupy a central role in the narrative?
3. In what sense can Crusoe's religious experience in the novel be considered Jewish-inspired?

Recommended Reading: Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe. 1719. Reprint, New York: Modern Library, 2001.