Between Levinas And Lacan: Self, Other, Ethics
by Mari Ruti /
2015 / English / PDF
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Levinas and Lacan, two giants of contemporary theory, represent
schools of thought that seem poles apart. In this major new work,
Mari Ruti charts the ethical terrain between them.
Levinas and Lacan, two giants of contemporary theory, represent
schools of thought that seem poles apart. In this major new work,
Mari Ruti charts the ethical terrain between them.
At first glance, Levinansian and Lacanian approaches may seem
more or less incompatible, and in many ways they are,
particularly in their understanding of the self-other
relationship. For both Levinas and Lacan, the subject's
relationship to the other is primary in the sense that the
subject, literally, does not exist without the other, but they
see the challenge of ethics quite differently: while Levinas
laments our failure to adequately meet the ethical demand arising
from the other, Lacan laments the consequences of our failure to
adequately escape the forms this demand frequently takes.
At first glance, Levinansian and Lacanian approaches may seem
more or less incompatible, and in many ways they are,
particularly in their understanding of the self-other
relationship. For both Levinas and Lacan, the subject's
relationship to the other is primary in the sense that the
subject, literally, does not exist without the other, but they
see the challenge of ethics quite differently: while Levinas
laments our failure to adequately meet the ethical demand arising
from the other, Lacan laments the consequences of our failure to
adequately escape the forms this demand frequently takes.
Although this book outlines the major differences between Levinas
and Judith Butler on the one hand and Lacan, Slavoj Žižek, and
Alain Badiou on the other, Ruti proposes that underneath these
differences one can discern a shared concern with the thorny
relationship between the singularity of experience and the
universality of ethics.
Although this book outlines the major differences between Levinas
and Judith Butler on the one hand and Lacan, Slavoj Žižek, and
Alain Badiou on the other, Ruti proposes that underneath these
differences one can discern a shared concern with the thorny
relationship between the singularity of experience and the
universality of ethics.Between Levinas and Lacan
Between Levinas and Lacan is an important new book for
anyone interested in contemporary theory, ethics, psychoanalysis,
and feminist and queer theory.
is an important new book for
anyone interested in contemporary theory, ethics, psychoanalysis,
and feminist and queer theory.