BU Jewish Studies Research Forum
The Boston University Jewish Studies Research Forum (BUJS Forum) facilitates conversations on advanced research in Jewish Studies and related fields. The Forum is multi-disciplinary and provides opportunities for resident and visiting faculty, postgraduate associates, and graduate students to present their work in progress while simultaneously learning from visiting scholars.
December 8 – BUJS Forum with Lucas Fain on “Emmanuel Lévinas and the Escape from Barbarism”
In the years 1934-35, Emmanuel Lévinas linked the political and intellectual rise of Hitler and Heidegger to an “arrogant barbarism established in the heart of Europe.” The most needful philosophy was a philosophy capable of thinking in level terms with barbarism. For the young Lévinas, this was conceived as a philosophy of escape. This talk explored the theme of escape as a confrontation with barbarism leading to Lévinas’s mature ethics of the “face.”
Dr. Lucas Fain is a Visiting Researcher at the Elie Wiesel Center.