Calendar | Conference

Ethics of Democracy: Emmanuel Levinas

Buffalo City, 1 - 5 August 2022

Official Website
CFP is closedOriginal Call for Papers

A week-long Seminar of intensive text-based examination and discussion of politics and democracy viewed from the perspectives of the ethics of responsibility elaborated by the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas (1906-1995).  Opposing the war and suppression of human-wolves of Hobbesian ‘realpolitik’, on the one hand, and the isolated individualism of the liberalism of Lockean propertied freedom, on the other, Levinas roots the political in the radical imperatives inter-personal obligation and ethical responsibility – for each other and for all others – which is to say, in the quest for social justice.  Such a perspective, binding the political to the ethical, to morality and to justice, makes democracy not one regime among others but the best regime, the ideal of politics.

Before you attempt to complete an application, please study the project website, which contains detailed information about the topic under study, project requirements and expectations of the participants, the academic and institutional setting, and specific provisions for lodging and subsistence.

To apply, send:
(1) A detailed résumé, curriculum vitae, or brief biography with contact information for two professional references;
(2) An application essay which should address your interest, both academic and personal, in the subject to be studied; qualifications and experiences that equip you to do the work of the seminar and to make a contribution to a learning community; a statement of what you want to accomplish by participating; and the relation of the project to your professional responsibilities.

 

Send application materials as email attachments to: Levinas.center@gmail.com