The Event of the Good

Reading Levinas in a Levinasian Way

Christopher Buckman, Melissa Bradley, Jack Marsh , James McLachlan

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English

State University of New York Press
01 July 2025

Phenomenology & Existentialism; Ethics & moral philosophy; Philosophy of religion; Religious ethics; Judaism

Centers on the ethics of Emmanuel Levinas, aiming to understand this important thinker on his own terms.

To read Levinas in a Levinasian way means to understand this important thinker on his own terms, thinking ""ethics as first philosophy,"" without reducing his role to that of a contributor to some other discourse, such as phenomenology, deconstruction, or religious traditions other than his own. This volume offers a variety of interventions into how the priority of the ethical-as formulated by Emmanuel Levinas and seconded by Richard A. Cohen, one of his preeminent interpreters-reorients philosophy to its own questioning-indeed, to its very sense of itself as meaningful. In the decades since Levinas first emerged as a profound and critical voice, many have used his thought to illuminate a broad range of philosophical questions. Often this has occurred in ways that have deemphasized or altered what is arguably Levinas's most radical gesture: reframing philosophy, indeed reframing the meaning of meaning, via an ethical turn. To this end, the essays in this volume, drawing especially on Cohen's reading of Levinas, offer insights into how appropriations and assessments of his philosophy might become more in line with the urgency and full meaning of his notion of the ethical. Whether discussing ethics, aesthetics, politics, or Jewish thought, when taken together, they enhance our comprehension of ethics and Levinas's philosophy of responsibility.

Edited by: Christopher Buckman, Melissa Bradley, Jack Marsh, James McLachlan
Imprint: State University of New York Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 227g
ISBN: 9798855802689
Pages: 413
Publication Date: 01 July 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Christopher Buckman is Lecturer in Philosophy at Indiana University Kokomo. Melissa Bradley teaches history at the secondary school level in Charlotte, North Carolina. Jack Marsh teaches Bible Studies at the Inter-American School, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. James McLachlan is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Religion at Western Carolina University.

Reviews for The Event of the Good: Reading Levinas in a Levinasian Way

""The essays in this volume offer ways of reading Levinas's philosophical corpus that are more in tune with how Levinas himself invites approaches consistent with his own formulations of his project. This is indeed a welcome development."" — James D. Hatley, Salisbury University ""This book is unique in the way it foregrounds attempts to read Levinas through his own lens and methods. The essays collected here emphasize a faithfulness to Levinas’s work throughout, and, through many different angles and approaches, they exhibit what happens when his words and work are generally trusted and relied upon to shape interpretation."" — Eric R. Severson, Seattle University