A Covenant of Creatures Levinas's Philosophy of Judaism [Hardcover]

I am not a particularly Jewish thinker, said Emmanuel Levinas, I am just a thinker. This book argues against the idea, affirmed by Levinas himself, thatTotality and Infinity and Otherwise Than Beingseparate philosophy from Judaism. By reading Levinas's philosophical works through the prism of Judaic texts and ideas, Michael Fagenblat argues that what Levinas called ethics is as much a hermeneutical product wrought from the Judaic heritage as a series of phenomenological observations. Decoding the Levinas's philosophy of Judaism within a Heideggerian and Pauline framework, Fagenblat uses biblical, rabbinic, and Maimonidean texts to provide sustained interpretations of the philosopher's work. Ultimately he calls for a reconsideration of the relation between tradition and philosophy, and of the meaning of faith after the death of epistemology. As for Fagenblat, by any relevant criteriondepth, clarity, originality, or scholarly integritythis book is first rate. Fagenblat's clear and mostly Levinasian-rhetoric-free writing helps to make the book teachable. . . Fagenblat achieves a great deal in this text. Pairing Levinas with Maimonides provides a teachable and engaging discussion. Fagenblat's highly interesting study of Levinas converges with a current trend in philosophy to pay more attention to philosophy's Jewish heritage . . . Fagenblat's interpretation of Levinas is a very good reading. This is a rich and sophisticated study of one of the most vital and influential thinkers of the twentieth century. Exploring Levinas's philosophy of Judaism from his philosophical rather than his confessional writings, Michael Fagenblat provides a fresh model that breaks down simplistic distinctions and opens the in-between space wherein the claim of the individual is held accountable through the response to the other and the challenge of the other is redeemed by the demand of the individual. Michael Fagenblat is Lecturer in the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisal“Y