Totality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority
Totality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1969
Book Brief
BetaTotality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1969314
Book • Nonfiction
•
Philosophy•
Education1960s
•
Religion & Spirituality•
Education1969
Adult
18+ years
Super Short Summary
In Totality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority, Emmanuel Levinas explores the ethics of human relationships by emphasizing the primacy of encounters with others. He argues for an ethical philosophy that prioritizes face-to-face interactions, viewing them as central to understanding the infinite and transcendent aspects of human existence beyond totalizing systems or concepts.
Contemplative
Mysterious
Challenging
Informative
Reviews & Readership
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Review Roundup
Emmanuel Levinas's Totality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority is celebrated for its profound exploration of ethics as a philosophy of responsibility and the face-to-face encounter. The complex, dense prose is challenging but rewards dedicated readers. Some critique its abstract style as inaccessible. Nonetheless, it's a significant philosophical work on the nature of human relations.
Who Should Read Totality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority?
Philosophy enthusiasts drawn to existentialism and ethics, particularly those engaged with ideas from Heidegger or Sartre, will enjoy Totality and Infinity. Readers of Buber's I and Thou or Levinas’s later works seeking profound exploration of human relationships and ethics may find it equally compelling.
1,870 ratings
Loved it
Mixed feelings
Not a fan
314
Book • Nonfiction
•
Philosophy•
Education1960s
•
Religion & Spirituality•
Education1969
Adult
18+ years
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