‘I am Here’, Abraham Said: Emmanuel Levinas and Anthropological Science (Methodology & History in Anthropology, 47)

One of the most significant philosophical voices of the twentieth century – the philosopher of ‘the Other’ – Emmanuel Levinas’ work offers a challenge to the discipline of anthropology that claims knowledge of the human. For Levinas, the ‘secrecy’ of subjectivity – a fundamental facet of the human condition – demands an ethics of ignorance and not-knowing; the mystery of otherness is only to be approached through ‘inspiration’. Can anthropology meet a Levinasian challenge if it would define itself as a science as well as a humanistic documentation of social life? This book endeavours to take Levinasian and anthropological precepts equally seriously and offers a tentative accommodation. Emmanuel Levinas’s philosophical work on ‘the Other’ offers a challenge to the discipline of anthropology that claims knowledge of the human. For Levinas, the ‘secrecy’ of subjectivity – a fundamental facet of the human condition – demands an ethics of ignorance and not-knowing; the mystery of otherness is only to be approached through ‘inspiration’. Can anthropology meet a Levinasian challenge if it would define itself as a science as well as a humanistic documentation of social life? This book endeavours to take Levinasian and anthropological precepts equally seriously and offers a radical conclusion. Cover ‘I Am Here’, Abraham Said Contents Figures Acknowledgements PART I Introduction Chapter 1. Cosmopolitan Anthropology PART II Chapter 2. At Home in the Integument of the Body Chapter 3. Being Inspired to Practice an Acultural Ethical Relationality Chapter 4. Tracing the Density of Human Being and Loving the Invisble, Silent Other Chapter 5. ‘Jews belong to Eternity’ Conclusion References Index