the cambridge companion to LEVINAS Each volumein this series of companions to major philoso- phers contains specially commissioned essays by an inter- national team of scholars, together with a substantial bibli- ography,andwillserveasareferenceworkforstudentsand non-specialists.Oneaimoftheseriesistodispeltheintim- idationsuchreadersoftenfeelwhenfacedwiththeworkof adifficultandchallengingthinker. Emmanuel Levinas is now widely recognized alongside Heidegger,Merleau-PontyandSartreasoneofthemostim- portant Continental philosophers of the twentieth century. Hisabidingconcernwastheprimacyoftheethicalrelation to the other person and his central thesis was that ethics is first philosophy. His work has also had a profound impact on a number of fields outside philosophy such as theology, Jewish studies, literature and cultural theory, psychother- apy, sociology, political theory, international relations the- oryandcriticallegaltheory.Thisvolumecontainsoverviews ofLevinas’scontributioninanumberoffields,andincludes detailed discussions of his early and late work, his relation toJudaismandTalmudiccommentary,andhiscontributions toaestheticsandthephilosophyofreligion. Newreaderswillfindthisthemostconvenient,accessible guidetoLevinascurrentlyavailable.Advancedstudentsand specialistswillfindadetailedconspectusofrecentdevelop- mentsintheinterpretationofLevinas. othervolumesintheseriesofcambridgecompanions: AQUINAS Editedbynorman kretzmann and eleonore stump HANNAH ARENDT Editedbydanavilla ARISTOTLE Editedbyjonathanbarnes AUGUSTINE Editedbyeleonorestump and normankretzmann BACON Editedbymarkkupeltonen DESCARTES Editedbyjohncottingham EARLY GREEK PHILOSOPHY Editedbya. a. long FEMINISM IN PHILOSOPHY Editedbymiranda fricker andjenniferhornsby FOUCAULT Editedbygarygutting FREUD Editedbyjeromeneu GALILEO Editedbypetermachamer GERMAN IDEALISM Editedbykarlameriks HABERMAS Editedbystephen k. white HEGEL Editedbyfrederickbeiser HEIDEGGER Editedbycharlesguignon HOBBES Editedbytomsorell HUME Editedbydavidfatenorton HUSSERL Editedbybarrysmith and davidwoodruffsmith WILLIAM JAMES Editedbyruthannaputnam KANT Editedbypaulguyer KIERKEGAARD Editedbyalastairhannay and gordonmarino LEIBNIZ Editedbynicholasjolley LEVINAS Editedbysimoncritchley and robertbernasconi LOCKE Editedbyverechappell MALEBRANCHE Editedbystephennadler MARX Editedbyterrellcarver MILL Editedbyjohnskorupski NEWTON Editedby i. bernard cohen and george e. smith NIETZSCHE Editedbyberndmagnus and kathleenhiggins OCKHAM Editedbypaulvincentspade PLATO Editedbyrichardkraut PLOTINUS Editedbylloydp. gerson ROUSSEAU Editedbypatrickriley SARTRE Editedbychristinahowells SCHOPENHAUER Editedbychristopher janaway SPINOZA Editedbydongarrett WITTGENSTEIN Editedbyhanssluga and davidstern The Cambridge Companion to LEVINAS Edited by Simon Critchley UniversityofEssex and Robert Bernasconi UniversityofMemphis           The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom    The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia Ruiz de Alarcón 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa http://www.cambridge.org ©Cambridge University Press 2004 First published in printed format 2002 ISBN 0-511-02088-0 eBook (netLibrary) ISBN 0-521-66206-0 hardback ISBN 0-521-66565-5 paperback contents List of contributors page ix Acknowledgements xii List of abbreviations xiii Emmanuel Levinas: a disparate inventory xv simon critchley 1 Introduction 1 simon critchley 2 LevinasandJudaism 33 hilary putnam 3 Levinasandthefaceoftheother 63 bernhard waldenfels 4 Levinas’scritiqueofHusserl 82 rudolf bernet 5 LevinasandtheTalmud 100 catherine chalier 6 Levinasandlanguage 119 john llewelyn 7 Levinas,feminismandthefeminine 139 stella sandford 8 Sincerityandtheendoftheodicy:threeremarks onLevinasandKant 161 paul davies vii viii Contents 9 LanguageandalterityinthethoughtofLevinas 188 edith wyschogrod 10 TheconceptsofartandpoetryinEmmanuel Levinas’swritings 206 gerald l. bruns 11 Whatisthequestiontowhich‘substitution’ istheanswer? 234 robert bernasconi 12 Evilandthetemptationoftheodicy 252 richard j. bernstein Bibliography 268 Index 282 contributors robert bernasconi is Moss Professor of Philosophy at the UniversityofMemphis.Heisco-editorwithSimonCritchleyofRe- ReadingLevinasandwithAdriaanPerperzakandSimonCritchleyof Emmanuel Levinas: Basic Philosophical Writings. He is the author of two books on Heidegger and of numerous articles on twentieth- centuryContinentalphilosophyandracetheory. rudolf bernet is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Leuven(Belgium)andDirectoroftheHusserlarchives.Heistheed- itor of E. Husserl’s collected works (Husserliana) and of the series Phaenomenologica (Kluwer). He has published Husserl’s posthu- mous writings on time and numerous articles in the fields of phe- nomenology, psychoanalysis and contemporary philosophy. His booksincludeAnIntroductiontoHusserlianPhenomenology(1993) andLaviedusujet(1994). richard j. bernstein is Vera List Professor of Philosophy and Chair at the Graduate Faculty, New School University. His recent booksincludeFreudandtheLegacyofMoses,HannahArendtand theJewishQuestion,andTheNewConstellation:theEthicalPolit- icalHorizonofModernity/Postmodernity.Heiscurrentlywritinga bookonradicalevil. gerald l. bruns is the William P. and Hazel B. White Professor ofEnglishattheUniversityofNotreDame.Hismostrecentbooks include Maurice Blanchot: the Refusal of Philosophy (1997) and TragicThoughtsattheEndofPhilosophy:Language,Literature,and EthicalTheory(1999). ix