Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

How do I relate to times which are entirely before and after my experience? 'Other times' are the originof novelty and Other people originate the language I employ to experience that novelty. By way ofapplication: what narrative theory can I derive from this philosophy of time? 1) The otherness of timeand of Other people is the origin of creativity. 2) The desire for more narrative is insatiable. 3) I ammorally responsible for the narratives I tell.In this close reading of Emmanuel Levinas's seminal 1961 essay Totality and Infinity, I seek tounderstand the effect his radical ethics has upon the philosophy of time. He does not explicitly set out atheory of time, but it is one of the primary phenomenon he uses to elucidate his ethics. Anyinterpretation of his ethics that fails to give an account of his philosophy of time has missed the essenceof his thesis. Because his philosophy of time is more implied than stated, my interpretation isnecessarily constructive. My secondary task is more constructive yet: I attempt to extract from hisphilosophy of time a narrative theory. Narrative serves three roles in my thesis. The first is interpretive:narrative provides a set of vocabulary to translate Levinas into a more widely applicable language. Thesecond is heuristic: narrative stands as a concrete phenomenon to which I can apply Levinas's radicalethics. The third is philosophical: I wish to formulate my own original theory of narrative. Thelimitation of space requires that I only provide a sketch of Levinas's importance for a narrative theory.I interpret Levinas's philosphy of time in three steps. The first is foundational. I outline thefundamental intention of Levinas's project and elicit the methodological approach which his ethicsimplies. He promotes a ethics of plurality rather than a philosophy of universality. The methodologicaleffect is that abstraction moves from particulars to pluralities (instead of universals). The secondconsequence is that the ethics he writes...

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

In this thesis, my aim is to look at Jan Patočka's engagement with the problem of humanism in Éternité et Historicité. In Chapter One, I will characterize Patočka's understanding of the crisis of man in the twentieth century and look at how he links that crisis to the problem of humanism and to his interpretation of 'genuine' Socratic philosophy. In Chapter Two, I will look at how Patočka links Socratic philosophy to twentieth century existentialism and I will examine his critique of Jean-Paul Sartre. Although I will conclude that his critique of Sartre is not quite on point, I will nevertheless argue that the direction in which this critique takes him - namely, to try to introduce a notion of 'higher being' into an existentialist framework - is interesting and results in a unique existentialist position. The aim of Chapter Three is to present Patočka's existentialist philosophy - his Socratic humanism - by looking at his analyses of human consciousness and his descriptions of inauthentic and authentic existence. In presenting his Socratic humanism, I will supplement what I perceive to be a lack of elaboration in the text itself by looking at how the question of the Good functions as the fundamental motor of Socratic humanism. In the final chapter, I will assess how Patočka's Socratic humanism could offer a response to the crisis which I characterize in Chapter One. Due to the lack of political elaboration in Éternité et Historicité, I will draw out the political implications of Patočka's Socratic humanism and provide a sketch of what could be called a Socratic politics.