What Ought I to Do?: Morality in Kant and Levinas - Softcover

Chalier, Catherine

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0801487943 ISBN 13: 9780801487941

Publisher: Cornell University Press, 2002

Synopsis

Is it possible to apply a theoretical approach to ethics? The French philosopher Catherine Chalier addresses this question with an unusual combination of traditional ethics and continental philosophy. In a powerful argument for the necessity of moral reflection, Chalier counters the notion that morality can be derived from theoretical knowledge.

Chalier analyzes the positions of two great moral philosophers, Kant and Levinas. While both are critical of an ethics founded on knowledge, their criticisms spring from distinctly different points of view. Chalier reexamines their conclusions, pitting Levinas against (and with) Kant, to interrogate the very foundations of moral philosophy and moral imperatives. She provides a clear, systematic comparison of their positions on essential ideas such as free will, happiness, freedom, and evil. Although based on a close and elegant presentation of Kant and Levinas, Chalier's book serves as a context for the development of the author's own reflections on the question "What am I supposed to do?" and its continued importance for contemporary philosophy.

About this title

About the Author:

Catherine Chalier is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Paris, Nanterre, and the author of numerous books on Levinas. Jane Marie Todd is the translator of four books published by Cornell, most recently Algeria, 1830–2000: A Short History by Benjamin Stora.

Review:

"Kant is the figure in the western philosophical tradition that Levinas most resembles, yet there are important differences between them, most notably on the issue of autonomy versus heteronomy. Hitherto the relation between Levinas and Kant has not been clearly understood. It is the great virtue of Catherine Chalier's impressive book that these differences and similarities can be brought together in a clear presentation that shows how Levinas and Kant can complement each other in building a powerful moral vision."

(Simon Critchley, University of Essex)

"Whereas most introductions to Levinas's thought take the reader by way of the history of twentieth century European philosophy, Catherine Chalier here succeeds in laying out Levinas's ethical philosophy by reference to Kant. What Ought I to Do? succeeds in making Levinasian ethics accessible to the broader philosophical community."

(Robert Bernasconi, The University of Memphis)

About this edition

• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0801487943
• ISBN 13: 9780801487941
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208