Title

Levinas and the Trauma of Responsibility: The Ethical Significance of Time

Authors

Cynthia D. Coe, Central Washington UniversityFollow

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.

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.

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