Suffering Witness by James D Hatley

Suffering Witness by James D Hatley

Conceptualizes the question of witness and responsibility, following the Holocaust, using continental philosophy, theology, and literary theory. Drawing on the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas, James Hatley uses the prose of Primo Levi and Tadeusz Borowski, as well as the poetry of Paul Celan, to question why witnessing the Shoah is so pressing a responsibility for anyone living in its aftermath. He argues that the witnessing of irreparable loss leaves one in an irresoluble quandary but that the attentiveness of that witness resists the destructive legacy of annihilation. "In this new and sensitive synthesis of scrupulous thinking about the Holocaust (beginning with scruples about the term Holocaust itself), James Hatley approaches all the major questions surrounding our overwhelming inadequacy in the aftermath of the irreparable. If there is anything unique (in a non-trivial sense) about the Holocaust, surely it is the imperious moral urgency that compels those who contemplate it to revise their view of what it means to be human, and to bear witness to such an event.

James Hatley is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Salisbury State University.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780791447062
ISBN 10	0791447065
Title	Suffering Witness
Author	James D Hatley
Series	Suny Series In Aesthetics And The Philosophy Of Art
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	State University of New York Press
Year published	2000-10-19
Number of pages	282
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.