Otherness and Ethics: An Ethical Discourse of Levinas and Confucius (Kongzi)

by ShinHyung Seong

Overview

Otherness and Ethics demonstrates how Levinas and Confucius (Kongzi) develop their ideas of otherness and ethics. Most of all, the meaning of inter-subjectivity is examined in order to employ this point as this book delves into the phenomenon of face in Levinas and the significance of ren (human-relatedness) in Confucius (Kongzi). In addition, this book searches their different notions of humanity and relatedness to have a creative discourse for developing the concept of ethics of otherness as it concentrates on the formulation of ethical narratives in Levinas and Confucius (Kongzi). Thus, this book can open a possibility of building of ethics of otherness through reviewing ethical foundations of Levinas and Confucius (Kongzi) and discussing the meaning of otherness.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781532647659
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	09/14/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	164
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

ShinHyung Seong is Assistant Professor of Soongsil University at Seoul, Korea. He is the author of Tillich and Levinas (2018) and the executive editor of Korean Christian Social Ethics, an academic journal in Korea.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction xi

Part I Theoretical Foundation on Ethics and Otherness 1

1 Reciprocity and the Radical Otherness 3

Part II Emmanuel Levinas 19

2 The Face of the Other 23

3 The Same and the Other 39

4 Ethics, Responsibility, and the Human Reality 53

Part III Confucius (Kongzi) and the Analects 67

5 Ren and Humanness 73

6 Humanness (Ren) and Others 88

7 Ren and Ethics 102

Part IV The Ethics of Otherness in Levinas and Kongzi 117

8 Kongzi vs. Levinas 119

9 The Ethics of Otherness: Response-ability and the Narrative of Virtue 130

Conclusion 138

Bibliography 143

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“At a time when our world struggles with cultural and personal differences, Seong offers a brilliant read of Levinas and Kongzi to give insight into the ethics of otherness. Especially engaging is his analysis of ren—‘love to others through the awareness of otherness’—that is critical to Confucian morality in conversation with Levinas’ conception of response-ability. Readers will find this intricate work important to the fields of philosophy, ethics, and theology. Seong’s concise critique to Euro-American-centered cross-cultural approaches is a needed addition to ethical discourse.”

—Pamela Lightsey, Vice President of Meadville Lombard Theological School, Chicago

Editorial Reviews

At a time when our world struggles with cultural and personal differences, Seong offers a brilliant read of Levinas and Kongzi to give insight into the ethics of otherness. Especially engaging is his analysis of ren—‘love to others through the awareness of otherness’—that is critical to Confucian morality in conversation with Levinas’ conception of response-ability. Readers will find this intricate work important to the fields of philosophy, ethics, and theology. Seong’s concise critique to Euro-American-centered cross-cultural approaches is a needed addition to ethical discourse.”

—Pamela Lightsey, Vice President of Meadville Lombard Theological School, Chicago

From the Publisher