John's review of Totality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority
Totality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority (Philosophical Series) by Emmanuel Levinas (Goodreads author!)
This book is full of rich and provocative insights. Levinas developed his philosophical insights--a blend of themes of phenomenology with ideas from Bergson and German Idealism--during the same period that Heidegger and Sartre were developing their philosophies, and there is strong resonance between all three. What is frustrating about this book, though, is that, (1) unlike the works by Sartre and Heidegger, it is often characterized by an approach to language that seems contrived and (2) it is excessively, misrepresentatively critical of other thinkers. The result is that readers often take away these two problems, rather than taking away the rich and provocative insights.
comments
No comments have been added yet.
