The Origins of Responsibility
François Raffoul
T h e Or igi ns of R e sponsi bi l it y
St u di e s i n Con t i n en ta l T hought John Sallis, editor Consulting Editors
Robert Bernasconi Rudolph Bernet John D. Caputo David Carr Edward S. Casey Hubert Dreyfus Don Ihde David Farrell Krell Lenore Langsdorf Alphonso Lingis William L. McBride
J. N. Mohanty Mary Rawlinson Tom Rockmore Calvin O. Schrag † Reiner Schürmann Charles E. Scott Thomas Sheehan Robert Sokolowski Bruce W. Wilshire David Wood
The Origins of Responsibility
Fr a nçois R a ffou l
Indiana University Press Bloomington & Indianapolis
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The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Â� Publication Data Raffoul, François, date â•… The origins of responsibility / Â�François Raffoul. â•…â•… p. cm. — (Studies in Continental thought) â•… Includes bibliographical references and index. â•… ISBN 978-0-253-35438-9 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-253-22173-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Responsibility. 2. Continental philosophy. I. Title. â•… BJ1451.R34 2010 â•… 170—dc22 2009040027 1 2 3 4 5 15 14 13 12 11 10
Pa r a M er i
Con t en ts
· Acknowledgments ╇ ·â•‡ ix · List of Abbreviations ╇ ·â•‡ xi
Introduction The Origins of Responsibility ·â•‡ 1
one Aristotle: Responsibility as Voluntariness╇ ·â•‡ 39
two Kant: Responsibility as Spontaneity of the Subject╇ ·â•‡ 58
three Nietzsche’s Deconstruction of Accountability╇ ·â•‡ 80
four Sartre: Hyperbolic Responsibility╇ ·â•‡ 121
five Levinas’s Reversal of Responsibility╇ ·â•‡ 163
six Heidegger’s Originary Ethics╇ ·â•‡ 220
seven Heidegger: The Ontological Origins of Responsibility╇ ·â•‡ 242
eight Derrida: The Impossible Origins of Responsibility╇ ·â•‡ 282
Conclusion The Future of Responsibility ╇ ·â•‡ 300
· Notes ╇ ·â•‡ 305 · Index ╇ ·â•‡ 331
Ack now l edgm en ts