Emmanuel Levinas: Why Be Ethical? (Part Two)

Continuing on "Ethics as First Philosophy" (1984) and other essays.

We try to complete Levinas's story on how revealing the flawed, aggressive character of our culture and personal attitudes can lead us to recognition of the ethical demand of the Other. Why, look, there's a Face right there, which, whatever actual expression might be on it, betrays first and foremost vulnerability: we recognize death in viewing another person, and with it time (you don't get much of a sense of time by yourself on an island, for instance).

So does this really reflect your experience, and if not, is that just because you're too used to the grasping character of knowledge and self-assertion? We found this intriguing enough, and our treatment of the "Time and the Other" essay skimpy enough, that episode 146 will be about that 1948 essay, which presents a different journey to essentially the same destination. #philosophy #ethics #levinas #intentionality #phenomenology #existentialism #Heidegger #death #time #ontology Go to the blog: http://www.partiallyexaminedlife.com/2016/08/29/ep145-2-levinas/