In this Book

summary
In Essential Vulnerabilities, Deborah Achtenberg contests Emmanuel Levinas’s idea that Plato is a philosopher of freedom for whom thought is a return to the self. To the contrary, she agrees, Plato, like Levinas, is a philosopher of the other. While they share the view that human beings are essentially vulnerable and in relation to others, they conceive human vulnerability and responsiveness differently.

For Plato, when ones see beauty in others, one is overwhelmed by the beauty of what is, by the vision of eternal form. For Levinas, on the other hand, we are disrupted by the newness, foreignness, or singularity of the other. For him, the other is not eternal, but new or foreign. The other is an unknowable singularity. By bringing into focus these similarities and differences, Achtenberg resituates Plato in relation to Levinas and opens up two contrasting ways that self is essentially in relation to others.

Table of Contents

Download PDF Download Full Book
  1. Cover
  2. open access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Title Page, Copyright
  2. open access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Contents
  2. pp. v-vi
  3. open access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. vii-x
  3. open access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Abbreviations
  2. pp. xi-xii
  3. open access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Introduction
  2. pp. 1-20
  3. open access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Part I. Totality and Infinity
  1. Chapter 1: Violence
  2. pp. 23-37
  3. open access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 2: Freedom
  2. pp. 38-68
  3. open access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 3: Creation
  2. pp. 69-95
  3. open access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 4: Knowledge
  2. pp. 96-112
  3. open access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Part II. Otherwise Than Being
  1. Chapter 5: Time and the Self
  2. pp. 115-132
  3. open access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 6: Violence, Freedom, Creation, Knowledge
  2. pp. 133-156
  3. open access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 7: Glory and Shine
  2. pp. 157-186
  3. open access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Conclusion
  2. pp. 187-188
  3. open access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Notes
  2. pp. 189-196
  3. open access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Bibliography
  2. pp. 197-202
  3. open access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Index
  2. pp. 203-210
  3. open access
    • Download PDF Download
Back To Top

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Without cookies your experience may not be seamless.