• THE UNBEARABLE BURDEN OF LEVINASIAN ETHICS

    Author(s):
    Jay Rajiva (see profile)
    Date:
    2014
    Group(s):
    TC Philosophy and Literature
    Subject(s):
    Ethics, Philosophy
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    Levinas, Derrida, Nancy, Laplanche
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6TK73
    Abstract:
    Levinas's treatment of persecution as the inaugural basis of ethical responsibility tacitly relies on the ethical subject's availability for seduction through an invitation to profane the beloved that is the obverse of the face. Using Jean Laplanche's conception of the enigmatic signifier, I interpret the face–beloved dyad as a pathological response to the primary, overwhelming, and persecutory demand of the breast on the infant. Furthermore, I suggest that Levinas refuses to acknowledge what precedes the anxiety of the enigmatic signifier – the encounter with spacing and temporality that announces the subject into the world. Finally, I challenge the viability of an ethical model that relies on a Judeo-Christian notion of non-reciprocity, which forces survivors of violence into an untenable subject position, thereby reifying their continued erasure as ethical subjects.
    Metadata:
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    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Pub. DOI:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0969725X.2013.869028
    Publisher:
    Informa UK Limited
    Pub. Date:
    2014-3-12
    Journal:
    Angelaki
    Volume:
    18
    Issue:
    4
    Page Range:
    135 - 148
    ISSN:
    0969-725X,1469-2899
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    3 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved
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