Talk about god cannot remain the same across history, as though concepts were eternal carriers of the same meaning. After studying under edmund husserl and martin heidegger. The levinas reader is the most comprehensive introduction to levinas s work yet published in english. That does not mean that otherwise than being was not motivated by the difficulties highlighted in totality and infinity by jacques derrida and others. It is therefore to receive from the other beyond the capacity of the i, which means. This concentration leads him to a radical use of metaphors for the ethical. Notes to emmanuel levinas stanford encyclopedia of.
Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. It will be an excellent introduction to levinas for readers unfamiliar with his work, and even for those without a background in philosophy. Levinas concordance download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. For emmanuel levinas, the stranger is one of the most visible faces of. The rhetoric of ethics claire elise katz emmanuel levinas was born in 1906 in kovno, lithuania, a country where, as he explains, jewish culture was intellectually prized and fostered and where interpretation of biblical texts was cultivated to a high degree. Having taught several courses on the thought of emmanuel levinas as expressed intotality and infinityandotherwise than being or beyond essence, i have found no better introduction to the reading of these books, especially the first, than the 1957 article philosophy and the idea of the infinite. Otherwise than being or beyond essence springerlink. Emmanuel levinas quotes author of totality and infinity.
In otherwise than being, levinas has returned to husserls inquiries into passive synthesis, to the latters perplexities about the stretch of retentions of passive experiences, about the unbidden spontaneity of our associations, and the nearinfinity of sensuous horizonsall part of a process unfolding in what husserl called in 1926 a. Levinas places the source of the meaning of ethical responsibility in the preontological structure of human subjectivity. He was the author of numerous works, including totality and infinity 1961, trans. Third, the basic concepts levinas employs are those of otherwise than being rather than the earlier totality and infinity. Otherwise than being the problem of god and the ethical relation are said to be one and the same. We will have more to say on this when we discuss time and transcendence in otherwise than being 5. An introduction to levinas emmanuel levinas is considered by many to be one of the most important philosophers of the twentieth century and perhaps of the entire philosophical tradition. The annual colloquium at cerisylasalle publishes a volume devoted to him. In otherwise than being, levinas focuses on sensible elements of human experience, particularly the subjects indwelling of her own body.
The otherwise than being of uq espace university of queensland. This idea appears in his of recurrence chapter 4 in otherwise than being, in which levinas maintains that subjectivity is formed in and through our subjection to the other. Faith is not a question of the existence or nonexistence of god. Then it brings forth the religious character of levinass ethics.
Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. Instead of placing being and the question of being at the base of all understanding qua existence, levinas places ethics, goodness and responsibility prior to all. Otherwise than being, or beyond essence, first published in 1974, is the second of levinass mature philosophical works, the first being totality and infinity first published in 1961. Conversations with emmanuel levinas, 19831994 notre. The relationship between the ontologies of liberalism and fascism is chiastic, because the latters fatal embrace of embodied and historical existence. Emmanuel levinas, otherwise than being or beyond essence, kluwer a cademic publishers, dordrecht, boston, london, 1997, p. The book includes an annotated list of recommended readings and a selected bibliography of books by and about levinas.
Bercherie, paul and neuhaus, marieluise, the encounter with the other person, so far as it is an event, merely inflects history or leaves a trace in it. Through such works as totality and infinity and otherwise than being, he has exerted a profound influence on twentiethcentury continental philosophy, providing inspiration for derrida, lyotard, blanchot and irigaray. An immensely challenging and sophisticated work, it is generally considered levinass most important contribution to the contemporary debate surrounding the closure of metaphysical discourse, much commented upon by jacques derrida. Furthermore, i argue that levinass views on the relationship between the ethical and political in otherwise than being can be read as a response to the chiasmi found in the above texts. Emmanuel levinas, a major voice in twentieth century philosophical thought, died in late 1995. In 1972, so two years before the publication of otherwise than being, levinas expresses similar ideas in an article titled meaning and sense. Emmanuel levinas and the problem of meaningless suffering. The cambridge introduction to emmanuel levinas michael l. Living presence, for levinas, would imply that the other person as someone genuinely other than myself is exposed to me and expresses him or herself simply by being there as an undeniable reality that i cannot reduce to images or ideas in my head. Emmanuel levinas a dissertation by thomas hidya tjaya.
God, death, and time emmanuel levinas translated by. The levinas reader emmanuel levinas edited by sean hand. Emmanuel levinas has been professor of philosophy at the sorbonne and the director of the ecole normale israelite orientale. This neglect seems curious in levinass case as metaphoror something like itis such a governing influence in his philosophy. Click download or read online button to get levinas concordance book now. A reading of emmanuel levinass otherwise than being or beyond essencel otherwise than saying and the said this study is motivated by the desire to understand levinas at his most difficult. Reading them in chronological order, one understands levinass writings to.
The books title makes it sound as though it is a collection of interviews between levinas and saint cheron, a scholar who has published works on augustin malroux and elie wiesel and who participated in levinass. Culture, ethics and politics, emmanuel levinas, 1930, 1946, 1947, 1963, 1984. Even for reading levinas it might be better to start with totality and infinitywhich is where he elucidates most of these ideas in the first placerather than here. Emmanuel levinas stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. It is believing that love without reward is valuable.
And to really get a lot out of it youll want a solid grounding in heidegger as well. Otherwise than being or beyond essence pdf free download. Thus, the terminology judeochristian civilization, rather than being a recognition of the originality and uniqueness of. He has commented on many strands of the western philosophical tradition, including the thought of plato, descartes, hegel, and heidegger. This desire explains the choice of otherwise than being or beyond essence as the almost exclusive guide to my reading.
Otherwise than being is essentially the sequel to totality and infinity, further elaborating the rich and comprehensive philosophy of ethical metaphysics that. Subjectivity, levinas argued, is primordially ethical, not theoretical. Emmanuel levinas 12 january 1906 25 december 1995 was a french philosopher of lithuanian jewish ancestry who is known for his work related to jewish. The levinas reader is the most comprehensive introduction to levinass work yet published in english. The place and face of the stranger in levinas 2279 mdpi. There is a growing recognition that the ultimate standing of levinas as a philosopher. The levinas reader emmanuel levinas, sean hand download. However, the logic of fecundityelectionresponsibility leaves the state and the family as two distinct human collectivities with nothing to mediate between their ontological and moral levunas. Otherwise than being or beyond essence is a sequel to levinass totality and infinity. But the otherinthesame is not concordancr from the factical other.
Otherwise than being or beyond essence levinas pdf. This essay is the main chapter in the most mature statement of his thought, otherwise than being or beyond essence, trans. Or beyond essence new edition emmanuel levinas, richard a. It seems to me that levinas the prisoner in the stammlanger camp is a clear reference sit uation that must be kept in mind when ref1ect ing on his idea of otherness. Didier franck finds in otherwise than being a problematic deepening of the relationship between radical transcendence and justice. There is little question that the sophistication of otherwise than being lies in its transcendenfe innovations. The three most remarkable innovations of otherwise than being include. Arguing that this rests on a misreading of being and time, i use this opportunity to raise questions about levinass interpretation of heidegger and his otherwise than beingwith more. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. That is to say, levinas here criticizes the philosophies of language developed by thinkers like heidegger and merleauponty. In prison, as a hostage for his persecuted people, he was. Emmanuel levinas shifts the grounds of metaphysics radically.
The recovery of the meaning of being and even the possibility of raising again the question of its meaning requires, according to heidegger, authenticity, which is defined by answerability. Levinas famously cites pascal at the preface of otherwise than being. Best known as the philosopher of radical alterity, levinas famously argues that. A dissertation presented in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree. Buy otherwise than being, or, beyond essence by levinas, emmanuel, lingis, alphonso isbn.