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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:
- xml
- 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:
- 6 years ago
- License:
- All Rights Reserved
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