Levinas's Agapeistic Metaphysics of Morals: Absolute Passivity and the Other as Eschatological Hierophany

This article evaluates Emmanuel Levinas's novel "ethical metaphysics" of interpersonal relations from a religious perspective. Levinas presents a unique version of agape ethics that can be evaluated in terms of a number of the dilemmas that have traditionally attended Christian discus...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of religious ethics 1998-10, Vol.26 (2), p.331-366
Main Author: Davenport, John J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agape
Alterity
Christianity
Concept of being
Eschatology
Ethics
Infinity
Levinas, Emmanuel
Metaphysics
Morality
Neighborhoods
Personal relationships
Religious ethics
Situational ethics
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Summary:This article evaluates Emmanuel Levinas's novel "ethical metaphysics" of interpersonal relations from a religious perspective. Levinas presents a unique version of agape ethics that can be evaluated in terms of a number of the dilemmas that have traditionally attended Christian discussions of neighbor-love. Because Levinas's analysis makes our responsibility for other persons depend on their eschatological significance, it has the same problems that hamper all theories of neighbor-love that lack a sufficient role for reciprocity.
ISSN:0384-9694
1467-9795