Entre Nous [Hardcover]

Emmanuel Levinas (Author), Michael B. Smith (Translator), Barbara Harshav (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1998 | Series: European Perspectives: a Series in Social Thought & Cultural Ctiticism

Originally published in France as Entre Nous: Essais sur le penser-a-l'autre (Editions Grasset & Fasquelle, 1991), and spanning the years 1951 to 1988, this collection of 20 essays and interviews presents an overview of the ethical philosophy of French philosopher Levinas. Proceeding from the tradit

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Entre Nous contains a number of short essays and conversations by Levinas, dating from 1951 to 1988, that serve as an excellent introduction to one of the most influential Continental philosophers. Levinas, a professor of philosophy at the Sorbonne who died in 1995, maintained that ethics, not ontology, is "first philosophy." The confrontation of one person with another was for him the basic situation from which philosophy starts. When standing face-to-face, people make an unconditional ethical claim on each other. Neglect of this claim vitiates the thought of Heidegger, by whom Levinas was influenced but against whom he rebelled. The essays on French philosophers, including Levy Bruhl and Marcel, are exceptionally stimulating. This important collection is highly recommended for academic libraries.?David Gordon, Bowling Green State Univ.,
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

An excellent introduction to one of the most influential Continental philosophers. . . . Exceptionally stimulating. -- Library Journal

Levinas's thought has had a profound influence on twentieth-century European philosophy. This collection of essays on religion, politics, and the primacy of ethics presents a superb introduction to his work. It allows us to see the scope and significance of one of the defining thinkers of our time. -- Arnold I. Davidson, University of Chicago

Levinas's thought has had a profound influence on twentieth-century European pilosophy. This collection of essays on religion, politics, and the primacy of ethics presents a superb introduction to his work. It allows us to see the scope and significance of one of the defining thinkers of our time. -- Arnold I. Davidson University of Chicago

The most definitive, accessible, and cogently argued statement of his philosophy that Levinas ever published. What makes Entre Nous so remarkable is that it summarizes and clarifies the central arguments of his long career. -- Choice

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr (September 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231079109
• ISBN-13: 978-0231079105
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #544,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Difficult and Deep, October 13, 2005

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Filosofo "Filosofo" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Entre Nous (Paperback)

After taking an intense and exceptionally stimulating course in Current Continental Philosophy at Texas A&M University (under Professor Steve Daniel, who has a published book that goes along with this pioneering undergraduate course), I bought this book to delve more into the highly intriguing thought of the Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Levinas -- one of the most important thinkers of the day and of all time for that matter, who is usually associated with the twentieth century enterprise of Deconstruction, as of that of Jacques Derrida who is vocal in his indebtedness to the "masterful" thought of Levinas. I would very much recommend this book, but only if you have an appropriate background in philosophical context, as to accommodate to the text's highly difficult and complex prose and content.

As the back cover of the book indicates, I did find this book to actually be an unexpectedly helpful and engaging guide (in spite of its difficulty) to serve as a proficient introduction to the prolific thought of this outstanding author. The essays contained in the book span over a spectrum of about forty years; so the reader is able to glimpse the progression and difference from Levinas's earlier work to his later essays, of which the book is for the better mainly comprised.

For me, these essays are paradigmatic of very technical and complex philosophy mixed with soaring religious insights into the inter-human (and ultimately highly ethical) condition. In Entre-Nous, the reader meets in a face-to-face way why Levinas's work is so vital -- in which ontology is unravelled into ethics, as philosophy is ultimately undone into what is truly religious.