Levinas and the Trauma of Responsibility: The Ethical Significance of Time
Document Type
Book
Department or Administrative Unit
Philosophy and Religious Studies
Publication Date
2018
Abstract
Levinas's account of responsibility challenges dominant notions of time, autonomy, and subjectivity according to Cynthia D. Coe. Employing the concept of trauma in Levinas's late writings, Coe draws together his understanding of time and his claim that responsibility is an obligation to the other that cannot be anticipated or warded off. Tracing the broad significance of these ideas, Coe shows how Levinas revises our notions of moral agency, knowledge, and embodiment. Her focus on time brings a new interpretive lens to Levinas's work and reflects on a wider discussion of the fragmentation of human experience as an ethical subject. Coe's understanding of trauma and time offers a new appreciation of how Levinas can inform debates about gender, race, mortality, and animality.
Recommended Citation
Coe, C. D. (2018). Levinas and the Trauma of Responsibility: The Ethical Significance of Time. Indiana University Press.
Rights
© 2018 by Cynthia D. Coe
Comments
This book was originally published by Indiana University Press. The book from the publisher can be found here.
Due to copyright restrictions, this book is not available for free download from ScholarWorks @ CWU.