Levinas and Theology Hardback

Emmanuel Levinas (1906-1995) is of increasing importance to those working in the diverse fields of phenomenology and continental philosophy, French studies, Jewish studies, ethics, politics and religious studies. While a handful of theologians have been drawing on Levinas' insights for some years, theology in general has shown some hesitance in dealing with his philosophy in any substantial way. In this book Nigel Zimmermann gives proper attention to the 'incarnate' aspect of the 'other' in Levinas', which has to some extent been overlooked in other introductions to his work. He offers a theological reading of Levinas that introduces theologians to some basic strands of Levinasian thinking which emphasise very much the concrete en-fleshed nature of human living. Human communities (in which politics is always crucial) may learn from the theological shape of Levinas' thinking, which is always to be understood in relation to his role as a Talmudic commentator and thinker who lost family and friends in the Holocaust.