Lectures on "PROXIMITY WITH THE OTHER - A Multidimensional Ethic of Responsibility in Levinas"

DHARMA ENDOWMENT LECTURES 2009-2010 Faculty of Philosophy Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram Ponti cal Athenaeum of Philosophy, eology, and Canon Law Bangalore

PROXIMITY WITH THE OTHER : A Multidimensional Ethic of Responsibility in Levinas

Prof. Dr. Roger Burggraeve, SDB Levinas Scholar and Professor of Moral eology Catholic University, Leuven, Belgium Date : September 17-18, 2009 Venue : DVK Auditorium, DVK Administrative Block

Based on the thought of Emmanuel Levinas, the Dharma Endowment

Lectures 2009-2010 examine the relationship among the self, the other, society, and politics. This leads to a multidimensional concept of responsibility. Responsibility is often seen as the extension of freedom and self-interest. Levinas sheds light on another view on responsibility, namely, responsibility that makes possible ethical proximity with the other. In turn, this interpersonal responsibility requires a broadening into social, economic, and political responsibility. This ethic of responsibility is illustrated by a remarkable text of Levinas on the “Social Meaning of Money” (translated by Anya Topolski). Indeed, the lectures would be interspersed with Prof. Burggraeve’s testimonies from his own personal encounters with Emmanuel Levinas.