Emmanuel Levinas: The Genealogy of Ethics (Warwick Studies in European Philosophy) [Paperback]

John Llewelyn (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 041510730X | ISBN-13: 978-0415107303 | Publication Date: August 2, 1995 | Edition: 1

This is a study of Levinas's work. Following his philosophical works in roughly chronological order, it shows how Levinas's argument - that metaphysics is anarchically ethical - departs from the tradition culminating with Hegel from the thinking of contemporaries like Husserl and Heidegger. He examines in detail the relationship between Nietzsche's scripture after the "death of God" - so central to post-structuralism and post-modernism - and looks at the significance of the interruption by Levinas's genealogy of ethics of Nietzsche's genealogy of morals. The text argues that in this time of crisis in ethics, Levinas's work provides a valuable alternative way to understand ethics. It asks how, after Auschwitz, we can afford to leave Levinas unread. Written for students of continental philosophy and theology, as well as for readers pursuing more advanced research, this book aims to bring the work of Levinas to a wider audience. 1

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is the most important full length study of Levinas in any language, because one completes the book both better informed and a better philosopher.
–Robert Bernasconi, University of Memphis

This is one of the most significant book-length engagements with the thought of Levinas in any language. It is of the same order of importance as Derrida's seminal essay on Levinas, Violence and Metaphysics. At this level and intensity of reading the distinction between original works and commentary falls away; here we are in the presence of thinking itself, with all its difficulty and opacity.
–Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology

...this is an exacting study of how Levinas's thought unfolds...[the book] will prove useful and important to those already familiar with his work..
– Religious Studies Review, Vol. 23, April 1997

Llewelyn provides an intricate and astoundingly subtle account of the genealogy of of Levinas's work ... It impacts not only the way we can think about philosophy, but also the ubiquitous and confounding experience of others and our relations to them.
–David Justin Hodge, Vanderbilt University

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (August 2, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 041510730X
• ISBN-13: 978-0415107303
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,913,798 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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