Emmanuel Levinas: His Life and Legacy

Emmanuel Levinas, one of the twentieth century's most eminent ethical philosophers and religious thinkers, introduced to French philosophy the idea of the other as the rupture of the same, the idea that was to become the foundation of late twentieth century continental thought. Originally published in French, Emmanuel Levinas: His Life and Legacy provides the only in-depth biography to appear in English of this interesting thinker, whose influence has continued to grow since his death in 1995. Salomon Malka, a journalist and student of Levinas's for three decades, devoted five years to the researching and writing of this biography, which details Levinas's childhood in Lithuania, his prewar years in Paris, his studies with Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger, his years as a German prisoner of war during the Holocaust, his paneling at the Vatican and in the streets of Tel Aviv, and his teaching career at the École Normale Israélite Orientale and the Sorbonne in Paris. This informative biography follows the ascent of Emmanuel Levinas from solitary thinker to one who is universally influential, and includes personal accounts of his family, friends, colleagues and students. It is essential reading for all those interested in Levinas and his thought, but also for anyone who wishes to better understand contemporary continental thought and its foundations and implications.