Levinas' 'Totality and Infinity': A Reader's Guide [Hardcover]

Emmanuel Levinas'Totality and Infinityis a monumental work of phenomenological enquiry that goes on to assert the centrality of ethics to philosophical thought. This Reader's Guide provides a detailed explanation of the work, breaking down the occasionally intimidating but always inspirational content of Totality and Infinity for non-specialist readers, unpacking the complexities of Levinas' thought with clarity and rigour.

Ideal for students coming to Levinas for the first time, the book offers essential guidance, outlining key themes, approaches to reading the text, the reception, and influence of the work, and recommends secondary reading materials.

Admirable ... [and] accessible ... [Large's book] considers many of the obvious questions a new reader is likely to have. Times Literary Supplement

When he first encountered the difficult work of Emmanuel Levinas, this reviewer threw one of Levinas's books against the wall in exasperation. Had Large's book been available, the experience would have been different. Levinas's style, his methodology, his vocabulary, and his argument can seem strange. In introducing readers to Levinas's most influential text, first published in French in 1961, Large (Univ. of Gloucestershire, UK) begins by working through the basics of phenomenological methodology and Levinas's relation to Jewish philosophy as the assumed contexts in whichTotality and Infinityoccurs. After this framing, the author moves carefully through the work, offering specific analysis and interpretation of each section in turn. He concludes with a look at several problems that seem to plagueTotality and Infinity-presentation, politics, l“'