The Lesser Good

The Problem of Justice in Plato and Levinas

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Phenomenology, Ancient, Ethics & Moral Philosophy
Cover of the book The Lesser Good by Wendy C. Hamblet, Lexington Books
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Wendy C. Hamblet ISBN: 9781461634409
Publisher: Lexington Books Publication: January 16, 2009
Imprint: Lexington Books Language: English
Author: Wendy C. Hamblet
ISBN: 9781461634409
Publisher: Lexington Books
Publication: January 16, 2009
Imprint: Lexington Books
Language: English

Western civilization is founded upon the assumption that there exists a "natural order" to the world, an embedded principle of justice with which human reason is aligned. The imagery is seductive. However, Emil Fackenheim raises a troubling fact in his To Mend the World when he names the Holocaust the "rupture that ruptures philosophy." The Holocaust and countless other horrors over thousands of years of eager philosophical pursuit could not order the troublesome human soul to that state of justice that the Plato claims to be the most natural and happy state of human beings, if they can simply know their best interests. The philosopher, physician to the human soul, has proven impotent in healing the open ethical wound of human inhumanity; worse, the grand ontological and epistemological structures that philosophers have constructed may be linked to the ethical failures of the planet, to colonial and imperial worldviews.

The work of post-Holocaust phenomenologist, Emmanuel Levinas, is written under the somber backdrop of the Holocaust. Levinas, by his own admission, stages a return to Plato. He shares Plato's sense of ethical urgency in the philosophical task, but he sets course for a new Platonism that thinks the difference separating (rather than the unity gathering) being. Levinas, more than Plato, appreciates that the exigencies and labor of everyday life can eclipse the needs of others and waylay the ethical life. Levinas too holds out more hope than Plato that the worst human beings can simply forget themselves and their self-interested projects, and become their brothers' keepers. Levinas quests for the good beyond being as he challenges the tradition of Western thought and the post-Holocaust world to a new ethos: we must decide between the starry skies above (the ordered ontologies of the Western tradition) and the moral law within. The Lesser Good represents a timely consideration of the ethical exigencies of human life, politics, and justice, demonstrating that philosophy's fa

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Western civilization is founded upon the assumption that there exists a "natural order" to the world, an embedded principle of justice with which human reason is aligned. The imagery is seductive. However, Emil Fackenheim raises a troubling fact in his To Mend the World when he names the Holocaust the "rupture that ruptures philosophy." The Holocaust and countless other horrors over thousands of years of eager philosophical pursuit could not order the troublesome human soul to that state of justice that the Plato claims to be the most natural and happy state of human beings, if they can simply know their best interests. The philosopher, physician to the human soul, has proven impotent in healing the open ethical wound of human inhumanity; worse, the grand ontological and epistemological structures that philosophers have constructed may be linked to the ethical failures of the planet, to colonial and imperial worldviews.

The work of post-Holocaust phenomenologist, Emmanuel Levinas, is written under the somber backdrop of the Holocaust. Levinas, by his own admission, stages a return to Plato. He shares Plato's sense of ethical urgency in the philosophical task, but he sets course for a new Platonism that thinks the difference separating (rather than the unity gathering) being. Levinas, more than Plato, appreciates that the exigencies and labor of everyday life can eclipse the needs of others and waylay the ethical life. Levinas too holds out more hope than Plato that the worst human beings can simply forget themselves and their self-interested projects, and become their brothers' keepers. Levinas quests for the good beyond being as he challenges the tradition of Western thought and the post-Holocaust world to a new ethos: we must decide between the starry skies above (the ordered ontologies of the Western tradition) and the moral law within. The Lesser Good represents a timely consideration of the ethical exigencies of human life, politics, and justice, demonstrating that philosophy's fa

More books from Lexington Books

Cover of the book The Mythology Surrounding Freud and Klein by Wendy C. Hamblet
Cover of the book Chinese History in Geographical Perspective by Wendy C. Hamblet
Cover of the book Kenya at a Crossroads by Wendy C. Hamblet
Cover of the book Presidential Swing States by Wendy C. Hamblet
Cover of the book Solo by Wendy C. Hamblet
Cover of the book The Rhetoric of Intention in Human Affairs by Wendy C. Hamblet
Cover of the book The Olympic Games, the Soviet Sports Bureaucracy, and the Cold War by Wendy C. Hamblet
Cover of the book Christianity and Culture in the City by Wendy C. Hamblet
Cover of the book Managing Conflicts in India by Wendy C. Hamblet
Cover of the book Essentials of Money, Banking and Financial Institutions by Wendy C. Hamblet
Cover of the book Conflict, Mediated Message, and Group Dynamics by Wendy C. Hamblet
Cover of the book Who Governs the Internet? by Wendy C. Hamblet
Cover of the book Voting and Elections the World Over by Wendy C. Hamblet
Cover of the book Rationality and Epistemic Sophistication by Wendy C. Hamblet
Cover of the book The Valtellina and UNESCO by Wendy C. Hamblet
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy