Levinas on the primacy of the ethical : philosophy as prophecy

Bibliographic Information

Levinas on the primacy of the ethical : philosophy as prophecy

Jeffrey Bloechl

(Northwestern University studies in phenomenology and existential philosophy)

Northwestern University Press, c2022

  • : pbk

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Summary: "Jeffrey Bloechl traces the evolution of Levinas's thought to argue that his conception of God is dependent on his existential phenomenology"--Provided by publisher

Bibliography: p. 189-198

Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Exploring the relationship between phenomenology and religion in Levinas's writings The philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas affirms both the urgency of peace and the fact that peace is never finally assured. This tension is a question of responsibility and of the ethical relation in which that responsibility is grounded. Jeffrey Bloechl pursues this prophetic dimension of Levinas's philosophy-his commitment to phenomenology and to a philosophy of religion-to make the case for the mutual reinforcement and intelligibility of these two threads. Levinas on the Primacy of the Ethical traces the emergence of Levinas's early thought in relation to modern political philosophy, his revision of Martin Heidegger's existential phenomenology, the consolidation of his mature position, his important differences with Freudian psychoanalysis, the turn from metaphysics to language in his later philosophy, and his complex relationship with Christian theology. Starting with an exposition of how positive notions of religious transcendence are already present in some of Levinas's early phenomenological texts, Bloechl then stakes the reverse claim: that Levinas's conception of God is dependent on his existential phenomenology. Proceeding chronologically, but with frequent nods to later developments, this book builds toward the ultimate assertion that Levinas offers us a phenomenology of event and of relation without appeal to any foundation, ground, or causal principle. Only in this way is Levinas able to generate an argument-and not merely an exhortation-for the primacy of the ethical as he conceives it.

Table of Contents

Introduction Chapter 1. Situation and Violence. Levinas, Sartre, and Heidegger Chapter 2. The Spirituality of Captivity: Being Jewish Chapter 3. Plurality and Infinity: Ethics as Religion Chapter 4. The Ethics of Desire: Levinas and Psychoanalysis Chapter 5. Speech and Transcendence: Levinas's Theory of Metaphor Chapter 6. The One God and the Other: Levinas and Christian Theology Conclusion: Prophecy and the Ethical Plot of Humanity Notes Bibliography Index

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