Levinas and the Holocaust: a reconstruction

Bob Plant

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

AbstractEmmanuel Levinas remains one of the most influential and challenging writers in twentieth-century European philosophy. But while critics often accuse him of obscurantism, even sympathetic readers are not always enamored with Levinas’s highly emotive vocabulary. Although there are standard ways of reading Levinas’s work—usually through his phenomenological and/or Judaic heritage—in this paper I offer a different route of access. Drawing primarily on Primo Levi’s testimonial Holocaust writings, I argue that reading Levinas as a “post-Holocaust” thinker both clarifies key features of his work, and eases at least some of the frustration commonly experienced by readers.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)44-79
Number of pages36
JournalJournal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy
Volume22
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014

Fingerprint

Reader
Emmanuel Levinas
Holocaust
Vocabulary
Frustration
Thinkers
Writer
Primo Levi
Route
Philosophy

Keywords

  • everyday kindness
  • guilt
  • usurpation
  • vulnerability

Cite this

Levinas and the Holocaust : a reconstruction. / Plant, Bob.

In: Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy, Vol. 22, No. 1, 2014, p. 44-79.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

Plant, B 2014, 'Levinas and the Holocaust: a reconstruction', Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 44-79. https://doi.org/10.1163/1477285x-12341251
Plant B. Levinas and the Holocaust: a reconstruction. Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy. 2014;22(1):44-79. https://doi.org/10.1163/1477285x-12341251
Plant, Bob. / Levinas and the Holocaust : a reconstruction. In: Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy. 2014 ; Vol. 22, No. 1. pp. 44-79.
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