Editing Jacob Talmon (section)

==Biography==
Talmon was born in [[Rypin]], a town in central Poland, into an [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jewish]] family. He left in 1934 to study at the Hebrew University in [[Jerusalem]], then in the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate of Palestine]], now [[Israel]]. He continued his studies in France but left for London after the Nazi invasion; in 1943 he was awarded a [[PhD]] from the [[London School of Economics]]. His main works are ''The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy'' and ''Political Messianism: The Romantic Phase''. Talmon argued that [[Rousseau]]'s position may best be understood as "totalitarian democracy", a philosophy in which liberty is realized "only in the pursuit and attainment of an absolute collective purpose." Following the [[1967 Six-Day War]], Talmon engaged in a debate with [[Arnold J. Toynbee]] on the role of Jews and Zionism in history.<ref>Hedva Ben-Israel, "Debates With Toynbee: Herzog, Talmon, Friedman," ''[[Israel Studies]]'' (Spring 2006), pp. 83ff; and two newspaper reports in Hebrew: Jacob Talmon, "Arnold Toynbee and His Relationship to the Jews," ''[[Haaretz]]'', Sept. 5, 1956 and "The Exchange of Letters Between Professor Arnold Toynbee and Professor Y. Talmon following the Six-Day War," ''[[Maariv]]'', Aug. 4, 1967.</ref>

Talmon died in [[Jerusalem]] on June 16, 1980, two days after his 64th birthday.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/06/18/archives/jl-talmon-is-dead-an-israeli-historian-hebrew-university-professor.html|title=J.L. Talmon is dead; an Israeli historian; Hebrew University Professor Was Author of Books on Evolution of Totalitarian Systems Threat of 'Racial War' Seen |first=David K. |last=Shipler |newspaper=New York Times|date=June 18, 1980 |page=38 }}</ref>