Levinas and Kierkegaard in Dialogue

by Westphal, Merold E.

• ISBN13: 9780253219664
• ISBN10: 0253219663
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-06-01
• Publisher: Indiana Univ Pr

Summary

Few philosophers have devoted more than passing attention to similarities between the thought of Søren Kierkegaard, a Danish Christian, and Emmanuel Levinas, a French Jew. Here, one of philosophy of religion's most distinctive voices offers a sustained comparison. Focusing on questions surrounding otherness, transcendence, postmodernity, and the nature of religious thought, Merold Westphal draws readers into a dialogue between the two thinkers. Westphal's masterful command of both philosophies shows that each can learn from the other. Levinas and Kierkegaard in Dialogue is an insightful and accessible contribution to philosophical considerations of ethics and religion.

Author Biography

Merold Westphal is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University. His most recent works include Transcendence and Self-Transcendence (IUP, 2004).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
List of Abbreviations	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
Revelation
Revelation as Immediacy	p. 9
Revelation as Enigma and Paradox	p. 28
God
Teleological Suspensions	p. 45
Commanded Love and Divine Transcendence	p. 58
Heteronomy
The Trauma of Transcendence as Heteronomous Intersubjectivity	p. 75
Transcendence, Heteronomy, and the Birth of the Responsible Self	p. 94
Reversal
The "Logic" of Solidarity	p. 115
Inverted Intentionality: Being Addressed	p. 138
Notes	p. 153
Index	p. 179
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