The Event of the Good
Reading Levinas in a Levinasian Way
Published on 1. July 2025
Book
Hardback
413 pages
979-8-8558-0268-9 (ISBN)
Description
Centers on the ethics of Emmanuel Levinas, aiming to understand this important thinker on his own terms.
To read Levinas in a Levinasian way means to understand this important thinker on his own terms, thinking "ethics as first philosophy," without reducing his role to that of a contributor to some other discourse, such as phenomenology, deconstruction, or religious traditions other than his own. This volume offers a variety of interventions into how the priority of the ethical-as formulated by Emmanuel Levinas and seconded by Richard A. Cohen, one of his preeminent interpreters-reorients philosophy to its own questioning-indeed, to its very sense of itself as meaningful. In the decades since Levinas first emerged as a profound and critical voice, many have used his thought to illuminate a broad range of philosophical questions. Often this has occurred in ways that have deemphasized or altered what is arguably Levinas's most radical gesture: reframing philosophy, indeed reframing the meaning of meaning, via an ethical turn. To this end, the essays in this volume, drawing especially on Cohen's reading of Levinas, offer insights into how appropriations and assessments of his philosophy might become more in line with the urgency and full meaning of his notion of the ethical. Whether discussing ethics, aesthetics, politics, or Jewish thought, when taken together, they enhance our comprehension of ethics and Levinas's philosophy of responsibility.
To read Levinas in a Levinasian way means to understand this important thinker on his own terms, thinking "ethics as first philosophy," without reducing his role to that of a contributor to some other discourse, such as phenomenology, deconstruction, or religious traditions other than his own. This volume offers a variety of interventions into how the priority of the ethical-as formulated by Emmanuel Levinas and seconded by Richard A. Cohen, one of his preeminent interpreters-reorients philosophy to its own questioning-indeed, to its very sense of itself as meaningful. In the decades since Levinas first emerged as a profound and critical voice, many have used his thought to illuminate a broad range of philosophical questions. Often this has occurred in ways that have deemphasized or altered what is arguably Levinas's most radical gesture: reframing philosophy, indeed reframing the meaning of meaning, via an ethical turn. To this end, the essays in this volume, drawing especially on Cohen's reading of Levinas, offer insights into how appropriations and assessments of his philosophy might become more in line with the urgency and full meaning of his notion of the ethical. Whether discussing ethics, aesthetics, politics, or Jewish thought, when taken together, they enhance our comprehension of ethics and Levinas's philosophy of responsibility.
Reviews / Votes
"The essays in this volume offer ways of reading Levinas's philosophical corpus that are more in tune with how Levinas himself invites approaches consistent with his own formulations of his project. This is indeed a welcome development." - James D. Hatley, Salisbury University"This book is unique in the way it foregrounds attempts to read Levinas through his own lens and methods. The essays collected here emphasize a faithfulness to Levinas's work throughout, and, through many different angles and approaches, they exhibit what happens when his words and work are generally trusted and relied upon to shape interpretation." - Eric R. Severson, Seattle University
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Albany, NY
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
US School Grade: College Graduate Student and over
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 29 mm
Weight
820 gr
ISBN-13
979-8-8558-0268-9 (9798855802689)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Christopher Buckman | Melissa Bradley | Jack Marsh
The Event of the Good
Reading Levinas in a Levinasian Way
E-Book
07/2025
State University of New York Press
€38.99
Available for download
Persons
Christopher Buckman is Lecturer in Philosophy at Indiana University Kokomo. Melissa Bradley teaches history at the secondary school level in Charlotte, North Carolina. Jack Marsh teaches Bible Studies at the Inter-American School, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. James McLachlan is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Religion at Western Carolina University.
Content
Introduction. The Event of the Good
James M. McLachlan
Path I. Reading Levinas
1. Reading Levinas in a Levinasian Way
Jean-Michel Salanskis
2. Levinas in North America Today: Richard A. Cohen's Contributions
Jack Marsh and Christopher L. Southland
3. Book Review: Ethics, Exegesis and Philosophy: Interpretation after Levinas
Robert Gibbs
4. Cohenfest: Did Rich Cohen Eat Al Lingis's Octopus?
Don Ihde
5. Cohen as Philosopher
Marie-Anne Lescourret
6. Book Review: Elevations
Edith Wyschogrod
Path II. Ethical Exegesis
7. Post-Levinasian Sketch of Ambivalent Relations: Between Art, Criticism, and Ethics
Rossitsa Varadinova Borkowski
8. Rhythm and Sense in the Philosophy of Levinas
Masato Goda
9. After the End of Philosophy: Ethical Exegesis and Ethical Body
Irina Poleshchuk
10. Senseless Kindness, the Church, and the Betrayal of Mercy in Don Quixote
Steven Shankman
11. Art of the Uncanny: Seeing with Cohen and Levinas
Jolanta Saldukaityte
Path III. Ontological Contests
12. Review: Levinas's Reading of Spinoza
Jacques J. Rozenberg
13. Imagine Freedom
Brunella Antomarini
14. Sovereignty in Levinas and Hobbes
Christopher Buckman
15. On Ethics: Levinas and Badiou in the Post-Postmodern Condition
Chung-Hsiung Lai
16. On the Importance of Importance: Emmanuel Levinas on the First Challenge to Jewish Thought Today
Richard Sugarman
17. Levinas and the Ethics of Sacrifice: Reading "Dying For..." Adverbially
Sandor Goodhart
Path IV. Ethical Religion
18. The Small Goodness Never Wins, But Is Never Defeated: On How Emmanuel Levinas Finds Inspirtation in Vasily Grossman for His Vision of a Humane Society
Roger Burggraeve
19. Sympathy for the Devil: On Richard Cohen's Levinasian Medications on Sartre and Theology
James M. McLachlan
20. Incarnate Religion
Mark K. Spencer
21. The Ethical Event: A Phenomenology of Chesed for Asylum-seeking Refugees
Devorah Wainer
Conclusion: Cohen Responds Response to Contributors
Richard A. Cohen
List of Contributors
Index
James M. McLachlan
Path I. Reading Levinas
1. Reading Levinas in a Levinasian Way
Jean-Michel Salanskis
2. Levinas in North America Today: Richard A. Cohen's Contributions
Jack Marsh and Christopher L. Southland
3. Book Review: Ethics, Exegesis and Philosophy: Interpretation after Levinas
Robert Gibbs
4. Cohenfest: Did Rich Cohen Eat Al Lingis's Octopus?
Don Ihde
5. Cohen as Philosopher
Marie-Anne Lescourret
6. Book Review: Elevations
Edith Wyschogrod
Path II. Ethical Exegesis
7. Post-Levinasian Sketch of Ambivalent Relations: Between Art, Criticism, and Ethics
Rossitsa Varadinova Borkowski
8. Rhythm and Sense in the Philosophy of Levinas
Masato Goda
9. After the End of Philosophy: Ethical Exegesis and Ethical Body
Irina Poleshchuk
10. Senseless Kindness, the Church, and the Betrayal of Mercy in Don Quixote
Steven Shankman
11. Art of the Uncanny: Seeing with Cohen and Levinas
Jolanta Saldukaityte
Path III. Ontological Contests
12. Review: Levinas's Reading of Spinoza
Jacques J. Rozenberg
13. Imagine Freedom
Brunella Antomarini
14. Sovereignty in Levinas and Hobbes
Christopher Buckman
15. On Ethics: Levinas and Badiou in the Post-Postmodern Condition
Chung-Hsiung Lai
16. On the Importance of Importance: Emmanuel Levinas on the First Challenge to Jewish Thought Today
Richard Sugarman
17. Levinas and the Ethics of Sacrifice: Reading "Dying For..." Adverbially
Sandor Goodhart
Path IV. Ethical Religion
18. The Small Goodness Never Wins, But Is Never Defeated: On How Emmanuel Levinas Finds Inspirtation in Vasily Grossman for His Vision of a Humane Society
Roger Burggraeve
19. Sympathy for the Devil: On Richard Cohen's Levinasian Medications on Sartre and Theology
James M. McLachlan
20. Incarnate Religion
Mark K. Spencer
21. The Ethical Event: A Phenomenology of Chesed for Asylum-seeking Refugees
Devorah Wainer
Conclusion: Cohen Responds Response to Contributors
Richard A. Cohen
List of Contributors
Index