Rachel R. Rosner
Rachel R. Rosner
philosopher and writer exploring the intersections of critical theory, religion, culture, and ethics
philosopher and writer exploring the intersections of critical theory, religion, culture, and ethics
My research focuses on Critical Theory, Philosophy of Religion, and Social and Political Theory.
Currently, I hold a Knapp Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism, and a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the ERC-funded Christosemitism Project, directed by Dr. Karma Ben Johanan, at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
My forthcoming book, Adorno and the Question of Theology: Religion and Reason Beyond Foundations (Bloomsbury, 2026), examines how the secular–religious divide might be rethought to support a more pluralistic and responsive framework for ethical reasoning.In my postdoctoral work, I am developing new research on postsecularism and antisemitism, tracing how religious and secular categories remain bound in modern political discourse, and how we might move beyond reactive positions.
PhD, Philosophy, Bar-Ilan University (2025)
MA, Philosophy, Northwestern University
BA, Philosophy, University of Oregon
New Book
Available here: Bloomsbury Academic, 2026
Adorno and the Question of Theology: Religion and Reason Beyond Foundations
Can we move beyond the religious–secular divide and live together ethically in a shared political world? Adorno and the Question of Theology: Religion and Reason Beyond Foundations says yes—and shows how. Through close readings of Dialectic of Enlightenment, Negative Dialectics, and Aesthetic Theory, Rachel R. Rosner examines how Adorno reconfigures the relationship between reason and theology to confront modern fragmentation. Drawing on Adorno's usage of constellation—a way of thinking that connects ideas without locking them into fixed systems—Rosner offers a way to move beyond entrenched dichotomies. Accessible to newcomers and illuminating for specialists, this book serves as both an introduction to Adorno's comprehensive philosophy and a path beyond enduring paradoxes in his reception.
Purchase and learn more at this link.
Writing
published and in progress
"A Model Beyond Foundations: Adorno's Theological Constellation"
Journal of Speculative Philosophy, December 2025
I explore Adorno's mobilization of theological language as the premier expression of his nonfoundational method. My reading of his "theological constellation," defined against both 'inverse' and 'negative' theology, challenges persistent paradoxes in his reception and dominant frameworks in critical social theory today.
"Postsecular Antisemitism: Adorno, Habermas, and the Frames of Exclusion"
Under Review
This paper introduces the concept of postsecular antisemitism to describe how contemporary forms of antisemitism, as a diagnostic cipher of the postsecular condition, emerge from mixed religious and secular logics. I argue that Adorno, writing ahead of his time, offers a more effective framework for understanding this condition than Habermas’s postsecular model, especially when read in dialogue with recent research on the co-constitution of the religious and the secular.
"Adorno, Kabbalah, and the Expansion of Enlightenment Reason"
In progress
This paper moves beyond the well-explored questions of how and where Adorno engages with Kabbalistic ideas to ask why they matter for his critical project. I argue these ideas become a crucial point of departure for rethinking the relationship between Enlightenment reason and theological traditions.
Antisemitism Between Futures and Pasts: Rethinking the Postsecular Present
In Progress
This paper reframes postsecular theory as a methodological problem of temporal ordering, using antisemitism as its central test case. Engaging Habermas and Asad, it develops a typology of teleological and genealogical models and shows how each displaces the present normativity of antisemitism by directing critique toward either future resolution or past formation. Drawing on early Critical Theory, the paper advances constellation as a third approach that holds succession and derivation in tension, enabling an analysis of antisemitism as a site where authority and normativity are produced in the present and remain open to change.
Other Projects
In Progress
Other projects include work on Sartre and Adorno, Adorno’s engagement with Benjamin, and a broader research trajectory on the structural persistence of antisemitism.
Book Reviews
I have published reviews that situate new scholarship within broader debates in philosophy and critical theory, highlighting their relevance for contemporary discussions of ethics, religion, and culture.
