Jean Paul Sartre hailed him as the philosopher who introduced France to Husserl and Heidegger. Derrida has paid him homage as "master." An original philosopher who combines the insights of phenomenological analysis with those of Jewish spirituality, Emmanuel Levinas has proven to be of extraordinary importance in the history of modern thought. Collecting Levinas's important writings on religion, Difficult Freedom contributes to a growing debate about the significance of religion-particularly Judaism and Jewish spiritualism-in European philosophy. Topics include ethics, aesthetics, politics, messianism, Judaism and women, and Jewish-Christian relations, as well as the work of Spinoza, Hegel, Heidegger, Franz Rosenzweig, Simone Weil, and Jules Issac.
Bibliographical Information
Translator's Note
Foreword
Part I: Beyond Pathos
Chapter 1. Ethics and Spirit
Chapter 2. A Religion for Adults
Chapter 3. Judaism
Chapter 4. The Pharisee is Absent
Chapter 5. Judaism and the FEminine
Chapter 6. The Diary of Léon Brunschvicg
Chapter 7. Being a Westerner
Chapter 8. Means of Identification
Chapter 9. The Ark and the Mummy
Part II: Commentaries
Chapter 10. Messianic Texts
Part III: Polemics
Chapter 11. Place and Utopia
Chapter 12. A New Version of Jesus Narrated By the Wandering Jew
Chapter 13. The Spinoza Case
Chapter 14. Have You Reread Baruch?
Chapter 15. Persons or Figures
Chapter 16. A Voice on Israel
Chapter 17. Poetry and the Impossible
Chapter 18. Simone Weil Against the Bible
Chapter 19. Loving the Torah More Than God
Chapter 20. An Eye For an Eye
Chapter 21. The Struthof Case
Chapter 22. The Name of a Dog, or Natural Rights
Chapter 23. The Virtues of Patience
Part IV: Openings
Chapter 24. Jewish Thought Today
Chapter 25. Jacob Gordin
Chapter 26. Religion and Tolerance
Chapter 27. Israel and Universalism
Chapter 28. Monotheism and Language
Chapter 29. 'Between Two Worlds'
Chapter 30. Judaeo-Christian Friendship
Part V: Distances
Chapter 31. Freedom of Speech
Chapter 32. Judaism and the Present
Chapter 33. The State of Israel and the Religion of Israel
Chapter 34. From the Rise of Nihilism to the Carnal Jew
Chapter 35. The Meaning of History
Chapter 36. The Light and the Dark
Chapter 37. Heidegger, Gagarin and Us
Chapter 38. Hegel and the Jews
Chapter 39. Exclusive Rights
Part VI: Hic et Nunc
Chapter 40. How is Judaism Possible?
Chapter 41. Assimilation Today
Chapter 42. Space is Not One-Dimensional
Chapter 43. Reflections on Jewish Education
Chapter 44. Education and Prayer
Chapter 45. For a Jewish Humanism
Chapter 46. Antihumanism and Education
Part VII: Signature
Chapter 47. Signature
Notes
Selected Glossary of Names and Terms
Index
