Levinas, Subjectivity, Education - Towards An Ethics Of Radical Responsibility

Levinas, Subjectivity, Education explores how the philosophical writings of Emmanuel Levinas lead us to reassess education and reveals the possibilities of a radical new understanding of ethical and political responsibility.


* Presents an original theoretical interpretation of Emmanuel Levinas that outlines the political significance of his work for contemporary debates on education

* Offers a clear analysis of Levinas’s central philosophical concepts, including the place of religion in his work, demonstrating their relevance for educational theorists

* Examines Alain Badiou’s critique of Levinas’s work

* Considers the practical implications of Levinas’ theories for concrete educational practices and frameworks

Anna Strhan is Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Kent, where she is researching the formation and negotiation of religious subjectivities in contemporary British society. With a background in philosophy of education, sociology, theology, and religious studies, Strhan’s work interrogates the relationship between subjectivity, language, cultures of embodiment, and materiality.

Preface vi
Acknowledgements viii
List of Abbreviations x
Introduction 1
PART I Levinas's Teaching 17
1 Teaching, Subjectivity and Language in Totality and Infinity 19
2 The Infinite Responsibility of the Ethical Subject in Otherwise than Being 44
PART II Towards an Education Otherwise 71
3 Heteronomy, Autonomy and the Aims of Education 73
4 Grace, Truth and Economies of Education 95
PART III 'Concrete Problems with Spiritual Repercussions' 119
5 Towards a Religious Education Otherwise 121
6 Dialogue, Proximity and the Possibility of Community 141
7 Political Disappointment, Hope and the Anarchic Ethical Subject 175
Coda 199
Bibliography 204
Index 212