Kierkegaard and Levinas Ethics, Politics, and Religion edited by J. Aaron Simmons a n d David Wood
Kierkegaard and Levinas
Indiana Series in the Philosophy of Religion Merold Westphal, editor
EDI T ED BY
J. A A RON S I M MON S AND
DAV I D WO O D
Kierkegaard and Levinas Ethics, Politics, and Religion indiana university press Bloomington and Indianapolis
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[email protected] © 2008 by Indiana University Press All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kierkegaard and Levinas : ethics, politics, and religion / edited by J. Aaron Simmons and David Wood. p. cm. — (Indiana series in the philosophy of religion) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-253-35258-3 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-253-22030-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Kierkegaard, Søren, 1813–1855. 2. Lévinas, Emmanuel. I. Simmons, J. Aaron, date II. Wood, David, date B4377.K5527 2008 194—dc22 2008021268 1 2 3 4 5 13 12 11 10 09 08
To a continued conversation between neighbors
Contents Acknowledgments ix List of Abbreviations xi Introduction: Good Fences May Not Make Good Neighbors After All 1 J. Aaron Simmons and David Wood pa r t o n e . l e v i na s o n k i e r k e g a a r d 1. The Many Faces of Levinas as a Reader of Kierkegaard 21 Merold Westphal 2. Existential Appropriations: The Influence of Jean Wahl on Levinas’s Reading of Kierkegaard 41 J. Aaron Simmons pa r t t wo . o n l ov e a n d t r a n s c e n d e n c e 3. Who or What or Whot? 69 John Llewelyn 4. Kierkegaard and Levinas on Four Elements of the Biblical Love Commandment 82 M. Jamie Ferreira 5. The Greatest Commandment? Religion and/or Ethics in Kierkegaard and Levinas 99 Jeffrey Dudiak pa r t t h r e e . t i m e , a lt e r i t y, a n d e s c h at o l o g y 6. Hearing, Patiently: Time and Salvation in Kierkegaard and Levinas 125 David Kangas and Martin Kavka 7. Kierkegaard, Levinas, and “Absolute Alterity” 153 Michael Weston 8. What Kierkegaardian Faith Adds to Alterity Ethics: How Levinas and Derrida Miss the