Circling Science

Ethics and Infinity: Conversations with Philippe Nemo

First published
1982
Éthique et infini
Difficulty
Moderate
Edition
Trans. Richard A. Cohen. Duquesne University Press, 1985.
Where to start
The whole book. These are short interviews, and an easier entry than Totality and Infinity.

Background

Earlier work that helps think about the practice, without being about it.

For respect for another person’s otherness: the other exceeds our ability to comprehend them, and calls us into responsibility.

In these short conversations, first broadcast on French radio, Levinas introduces a philosophy in which the other person exceeds every attempt to comprehend them fully, and in doing so calls us into responsibility.

A useful companion to I and Thou, and a far easier entry than Totality and Infinity.

Questions to bring into a circle

  • Can I feel close to you while allowing you to remain surprising and partly unknown?

Read alongside

  1. 1923
    I and Thou

    Buber · Moderate

    The best first book on what it means to meet someone: relating to a person as a “Thou” rather than as an object of knowledge or use.

Further reading

Cite

Levinas, E. (1982). Ethics and Infinity: Conversations with Philippe Nemo. Trans. Richard A. Cohen. Duquesne University Press, 1985.