Explores systematically the relation of Levinas' thought to the political
and how the ethical resources he offers can enrich our understanding of the
political. This is essential reading for all students of philosophy and
politics.Emmanuel Levinas is one of the most influential philosophers of the
Twentieth Century and is best known for his work on ethics and theology. Even
though he has been very influential in literature and cultural theory, the
political implications of his work have so far been neglected. Levinas &
the Political is the first book to explore systematically the relation of
Levinas' thought to the political and how the ethical resources he offers can
enrich our understanding of the political. Levinas & the Political explores
the political from Levinas' early writings in the face of National Socialism
through to his controversial political statements on Israeli and French
politics. It analyses themes such as the deconstruction of metaphysics as a
reconfiguration of the political, embodiment, the face and alterity. Howard
Caygill also explores Levinas' engagement with his contemporaries Heidegger and
Bataille, and the implications of his rethinking of the political for an
understanding of the significance of the Holocaust. Levinas & the Political
is essential reading for all students of philosophy and politics and all those
interested in the political.
