Publisher's Synopsis
This book, the first of its kind, is a systematic and broad-based attempt to bring to psychology the intriguing work of French phenomenologist, Emmanuel Levinas. Because contemporary psychology, in its adherence to the philosophical and methodological underpinnings of naturalistic science, too often abandons questions about morality and ethical obligation, Levinas's writings about the experience of the face of the Other and the ethical obligation therein become particularly relevant. In ten original essays by distinguished scholars -- some philosophers, some clinicians, and some academic psychologists -- the potential and the experiential impact of Levinas's work in the understanding of our fundamental human nature and the practice of psychotherapy are explored. Ultimately, the intention is to create a new discipline of psychology: namely, a 'science of the ethical.'
