The topic of his dissertation was the thought of Nachman Krochmal and Hermann Cohen as philosophers of history. He published a series of academic journal articles on Jewish philosophical and theological topics such as Jewish ethics, aesthetics, messianism, eschatology, halakha, and the role of rationalism and the philosophies of notable Jewish philosophers such as Martin Buber, Hermann Cohen, Theodor W. Adorno, Karl Marx, Spinoza, Moses Mendelssohn and Maimonides. He also showed an interest in the thought of rabbis such as Isaac Hutner, Joseph B. Soloveitchik and Joel Teitelbaum. Following Hermann Cohen, Schwarzschild espoused a form of neo-Kantianism and emphasized the role of the halakha in Judaism as a rational system of moral ideals. He was also strongly influenced by Maimonides.
Political views
In other essays he expressed pacifist and democratic socialist views and critiqued Zionism. He asserted at the National Interreligious Conference on Peace: "When God, the Radical, demands that we seek peace, He demands that we radically seek radical peace...not only when it fits into the political plans of our government, nor only when it is socially safe to talk about it, nor yet to the degree to which this seems practically prudent and promising of results, but under the irresistible command of God, always, everywhere, in every way, and totally, religion must insist on, explore, and practice the ways of peace toward the attainment of peace." .
Articles
'The Tragedy of Optimism - Steven Schwarzschild’s Writings on Hermann Cohen', State University NY Press, New York 2018
'The Personal Messiah-Toward the Restoration of a Discarded Doctrine,', in Kellner, M.,The Pursuit of the Ideal: Jewish Writings of Steven Schwarzschild,
'Do Noachites Have to Believe in Revelation?. A Contribution to a Jewish View of Natural Law,', in Kellner, M., The Pursuit of the Ideal: Jewish Writings of Steven Schwarzschild,
'To Re-Cast Rationalism,', in Frank, D. Leaman, O. and Manekin, C.H.,, The Jewish Philosophy Reader,'.
'The Lure of Immmanence-The Crisis in Contemporary Religious Thought,', in Kellner, M., The Pursuit of the Ideal: Jewish Writings of Steven Schwarzschild,
'Judaism, Scriptures, and Ecumenism,', Neusner, J., Judaism and Christianity: The New Relationship,,
'On the Theology of Jewish Survival,', in Kellner, M., The Pursuit of the Ideal: Jewish Writings of Steven Schwarzschild,
'A Note on the Nature of Ideal Society-A Rabbinic Study,' in Kellner, M., The Pursuit of the Ideal: Jewish Writings of Steven Schwarzschild,
'The Legal Foundation of Jewish Aesthetics,', in Kellner, M., Kellner, M., The Pursuit of the Ideal: Jewish Writings of Steven Schwarzschild,
'The Tenability of Herman Cohen's Construction of the Self,', Journal of the History of Philosophy, Vol. 13, No. 3
'The Question of Jewish Ethics Today,', in Kellner, M., The Pursuit of the Ideal: Jewish Writings of Steven Schwarzschild,
'Moral Radicalism and "Middlingness" in the Ethics of Maimonides,', in Kellner, M., The Pursuit of the Ideal: Jewish Writings of Steven Schwarzschild,
'Jean-Paul Sartre as Jew,', in Kellner, M., The Pursuit of the Ideal: Jewish Writings of Steven Schwarzschild,
'An Introduction to the Thought of R. Isaac Hutner,' Modern Judaism,, Vol. 5, No. 3
'A Critique of Martin Buber's Political Philosophy-An Affectionate Reappraisal,', in Kellner, M.,The Pursuit of the Ideal: Jewish Writings of Steven Schwarzschild,
'On Jewish Eschatology,', in Kellner, M., The Pursuit of the Ideal: Jewish Writings of Steven Schwarzschild,
'Modern Jewish Philosophy,', in Kellner, M., The Pursuit of the Ideal: Jewish Writings of Steven Schwarzschild,
'Shekhinah and Eschatology,', in Kellner, M., The Pursuit of the Ideal: Jewish Writings of Steven Schwarzschild,
'Adorno and Schoenberg as Jews Between Kant and Hegel,' Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook,, 35
'The Unnatural Jew,' in Yaffe, M.D., Judaism and Environmental Ethics: A Reader,',
