Radical Passivity: Ethical Problem or Solution?

We westerners live in an era of unadulterated individualism. There has consequently been a resurgence of ethical concerns in recent Continental philosophy, which takes altruism as cornerstone of ethics. This premise is embodied in the work of French philosopher, Emmanuel Levinas who claims that taking responsibility for others is not actively chosen but passively imposed. In his later works, he argues that there is no free, rational decision involved in facing up to our ethical responsibility. Rather, encountering people in need affects a radical passivity, i.e. it stops us in our selfish tracks and pre-consciously imposes our duty to help them. But what is the moral significance of responsible action if it is not freely chosen but passively imposed? This research project wants to develop a fundamental framework for rethinking and buttressing the recent return to ethics through a thoroughgoing critique of the later Levinass prioritization of the Other at the expense of the self. Thereby, I hope to dismantle the (false) opposition between an absolutized egoism and crushing altruism that threatens to undermine the recent recovery of ethical concerns. Methodologically, the research will consist in a hermeneutical assessment of the argumentative unfolding of Levinass thinking [1], with the aid of Kants practical philosophy [2]. Both these aspects account for the originality and significance of the research. A hermeneutical reappraisal of the later Levinass prioritization of the Other in terms of his early emphasis on the self as necessary condition for other-responsiveness will bring a new methodology to Levinas scholarship. In addition, I shall challenge the general consensus that Levinas?s move from pre-ethical freedom to ethical responsibility coincides with Kants supplement of freedom with the moral law. Finally, Adornos reading of Kant will enable me to develop the critical apparatus needed to help foster the resurgence of ethics beyond the limited sphere of Continental philosophy. Keywords: ethical agency, radical passivity, ethics, Levinas, Kant