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COURSE NUMBER: PHIL 399
COURSE TITLE: Special Topics in Philosophy - 2012-13 Winter THE PHILOSOPHY OF EMMANUEL LEVINAS
NAME OF INSTRUCTOR: Dr Jeffrey Dudiak
CREDIT WEIGHT AND WEEKLY TIME DISTRIBUTION: credits 3(hrs lect 3 - hrs sem 0 - hrs lab 0)
COURSE DESCRIPTION: A course on a topic or figure of special interest to a member of the philosophy faculty and offered on a non-recurring basis.

Prerequisites: PHIL 230

2012-13 Winter

In this course we will work through some of the principal writings of the 20th Century French, Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, one of the most important voices in contemporary Continental/phenomenological ethics and religion.
TEXTS: Required
  • Emmanuel Levinas, Totality and Infinity, trans. A. Lingis, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1979.
  • Emmanuel Levinas, The Levinas Reader, ed. S. Hand, Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd., 1989.
Recommended
  • Richard Cohen, ed., Face to Face with Levinas, Albany: SUNY Press, 1986.
  • Robert Bernasconi and Simon Critchley, eds., Re-Reading Levinas, Bloomington: Indiana U.P., 1991.
  • Jeffrey Dudiak, The Intrigue of Ethics, New York: Fordham U.P., 2001.
MARK DISTRIBUTION IN PERCENT:
Weekly questions30%
First paper30%
Second paper30%
Comments on other papers10%
100%
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
  • learn the general outline of the thought of the thought of Emmanuel Levinas
  • begin to understand Levinas in terms of this place in Continental philosophy and the phenomenological movement
  • pay particular attention to Levinas’s importance for ethics and the philosophy of religion
COURSE OUTLINE:
  • Metaphysics and Transcendence
  • Separation and Discourse
  • Truth and Justice
  • Separation and the Absolute
  • Separation as Life
  • Enjoyment and Representation
  • I and Dependence
  • The Dwelling
  • The World of Phenomena and Expression
  • Sensibility and the Face
  • Ethics and the Face
  • The Ethical Relation and Time

Required texts, assignments, and grade distributions may vary from one offering of this course to the next. Please consult the course instructor for up to date details.

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