The Wisdom of Love (Texts and Contexts) [Paperback]

Alain Finkielkraut (Author), David Suchoff (Translator), Kevin O'Neill (Translator)

Book Description

Series: Texts and Contexts | Publication Date: March 1, 2001

The Wisdom of Love examines the seemingly contradictory claims of universalism and partisanship for the ethnic or racial Other. In discussions of topics ranging from the work of the Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas to the Dreyfus Affair of the 1890s to the contending positions of Right and Left in the recent culture wars in Europe and the Americas, Finkielkraut cautions against both an unreflective universalism and an equally inflexible advocacy of the Other. He argues instead that genuine respect for the Other is inseparable from calls for universal justice and equality. Rather than being opposites, otherness and universalism are, for Finkielkraut, inextricably bound to one another.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Alain Finkielkraut is a French thinker and social critic who, while taking a position in the political center, says unexpected things. . . . He is a writer who can sear with a bulletlike condemnation. . . . This Frenchman''s ideas and exuberant writing contribute richly to the debate over what to do with a global-market dominated world approaching century''s end. And the reader''s bonus is a model of love in the next century, a complex and marvelous one."—Washington Times

(Washington Times )

"There are many pleasant surprises among Finkielkraut''s short and unusual readings . . . . The adventure is well worth the effort."—Boston Book Review

(Boston Book Review )

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 153 pages
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press (March 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803269048
• ISBN-13: 978-0803269040
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 4.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,133,773 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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