Difficulties of Ethical Life

Contents

Contents Introduction 1 Shannon Sullivan and Dennis J. Schmidt P A R T I : Q U E S T I O N S O F E T H I C S 1 In the Name of Goodness 11 Charles E. Scott 2 What Is Philosophical Ethics? 25 Günter Figal 3 Hermeneutics as Original Ethics 35 Dennis J. Schmidt P A R T I I : T H E E T H I C S O F I N T E R S U B J E C T I V I T Y A N D I N T E R P E R S O N A L R E L AT I O N S 4. Ethical Experience, Ethical Subjectivity 51 Simon Critchley 5 9/11: America and the Politics of Innocence 72 Debra B. Bergoffen 6 Engage the Enemy: Cavell, Comedies of Remarriage, and the Politics of Friendship 88 Cynthia Willett vii 7 The Intimacy of Strangers: The Difficulty of Closeness and the Ethics of Distance 112 Eduardo Mendieta P A R T I I I : R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y A N D R A C E 8 Before Whom and for What? Accountability and the Invention of Ministerial, Hyperbolic, and Infinite Responsibility 131 Robert Bernasconi 9 Racism and Responsibility 147 Ladelle McWhorter 10 Whiteness as Family: Race, Class, and Responsibility 162 Shannon Sullivan P A R T I V : T H E E T H I C S O F N O N T R U T H 11 Narrating Pain: The Ethics of Catharsis 181 Richard Kearney 12 On Deception: Radical Evil and the Destruction of the Archive 195 Peg Birmingham Notes 213 Contributors 239 Index 243 viii Contents Difficulties of Ethical Life ...