Jewish Philosophies After Heidegger: Imagining a Dialogue between Jonas and Levinas

Authors

Lawrence A. Vogel, Connecticut CollegeFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2001

Comments

Initially published in the Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal, 2001, p.119-146.

© 2001 The New School for Social Research

http://www.newschool.edu/nssr/GFPJ/GFPJ/Titles/titles3.html

Abstract

Emmanuel Levinas and Hans Jonas draw on their roots in phenomenology and Judaism to answer the ethical nihilism of Heidegger's thought. Though both Levinas and Jonas aim to ground an imperative of responsibility in a Good-in-itself ultimately sourced in God, their disagreements are basic and revolve around three fundamental questions: (1) Can Jews "after Auschwitz" have a theology without lapsing into theodicy?; (2) Is the Good-in-itself within Being or "otherwise than Being"?; and (3) Is ethics the completion of nature or against nature? I explore possibilities for integrating the apparently incompatible ideas of Levinas and Jonas.

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Recommended Citation

Vogel, Lawrence. "Jewish Philosophies After Heidegger: Imagining A Dialogue Between Jonas And Levinas." Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal 23.1 (2001): 119-146. Web.