Difficult Justice

by Horowitz, Asher; Horowitz, Gad

• ISBN13: 9780802080097
• ISBN10: 080208009X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-01-31
• Publisher: Univ of Toronto Pr

Summary

French philosopher and Talmudic commentator Emmanuel Levinas (1906-1995) is best known for his two major, highly original works on ethics, Totality and Infinity (1961) and Otherwise Than Being or Beyond Essence (1974). Among his lesser known works is a short but remarkable essay published in 1934, "Refections on the Philosophy of Hitlerism," in which he considers German conservatism and the Nazi movement, and reflects on Western philosophy's capacity to insure itself against 'elemental evil.' Difficult Justice uses this essay as an introduction to a collection of papers on Levinas's ethical and political thought.In this volume editors Asher and Gad Horowitz bring together contributors from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds to explore how Levinas's work relates to a broad range of contemporary philosophical and political questions. In particular, they examine Levinas's challenge to liberalism 'to find another kinship for man ... absolutely opposed to oppression,' and his movement beyond liberalism to embrace 'the claim of the Other.' This thought-provoking collection will not only be invaluable to Levinas scholars, it will also be of interest to those working in the areas of Jewish studies, women's studies, and political theory.Contributors:Keith AndersonShannon BellRobert BernasconiMielle ChandlerTina ChanterMarinos DiamantidesRosalyn DiproseEnrique DusselOona EisenstadtRobert GibbsAsher HorowitzGad HorowitzZe'ev LevyJoseph RosenBrian SchroederVictoria Tahmasebi

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Contributors	ix
INTRODUCTION
Reflections on the Philosophy of Hitlerism	3	(9)
EMMANUEL LEVINAS
Is Liberalism All We Need? Prelude via Fascism	12	(15)
ASHER HOROWITZ AND GAD HOROWITZ
ESSAYS
Beyond Rational Peace: On the Possibility/Necessity of a Levinasian Hyperpolitics	27	(21)
ASHER HOROWITZ
Hands that Give and Hands That Take: The Politics of the Feminine in Levinas	48	(15)
TINA CHANTER
Levinas in the Key of the Political	63	(15)
OONA EISENSTADT
'The Politics' by Levinas: Towards a 'Critical' Political Philosophy	78	(19)
ENRIQUE DUSSEL
Hemorrhage and Filiality: Towards a Fecundation of the Political	97	(14)
MIELLE CHANDLER
Levinas and Alterity Politics	111	(16)
SHANNON BELL
Public Transgressions: Levinas and Arendt	127	(21)
KEITH ANDERSON
Can Fig Trees Grow on Mountains? Reversing the Question of Great Politics	148	(24)
BRIAN SCHROEDER
Levinas, Nietzsche, and Benjamin's 'Divine Violence'	172	(19)
VICTORIA TAHMASEBI
From Escape to Hostage	191	(30)
MARINOS DIAMANTIDES
The Ethics and Politics of the Handshake: Levinas, Merleau-Ponty, and Nancy	221	(25)
ROSALYN DIPROSE
Strangers and Slaves in the Land of Egypt: Levinas and the Politics of Otherness	246	(16)
ROBERT BERNASCONI
Levinas's Jewish Perspective on State, Revolution and Utopia	262	(9)
ZE'EV LEVY
Levinas, the Messianic, and the Question of History	271	(14)
ROBERT GIBBS
From a Memory beyond Memory to a State beyond the State	285	(22)
JOSEPH ROSEN
Aporia and Messiah in Derrida and Levinas	307
GAD HOROWITZ