'If you desire to enter into life' : orientations for a consistent relational and sexual ethics starting from the narrative of the rich young man

Int his article. the author tackles the challenge of reconciling law and emotion via a philosophical in depth reading of the Gospel narrative of the so called rich young man, at least of its first part. This narrative indeed challenges us to reflect on the paradoxical and creative interaction between boundary lines and freedom, prohibition and taste, ethics and aesthetics. This reflection will enable us, in the first part of this article, to pay special attention to the educational implications, among others the importance of the educative community as a “community of participation.” Such an approach will likewise offer an inspiring framework to develop, in the second part of the article, a consistent relational and sexual ethics “beyond diversity” that is applicable not only to marriage but also to other forms of intimacy: premarital sexuality; pre-, non- and post-marital cohabitation, homosexual and lesbian relationships, remarriage or cohabitation after divorce, without this having to lead to an “axiological equalization” of all these intimate life forms.peer-reviewe

THE FACE-TO-FACE PROVOKES WISDOM OF LOVE Levinas’ ethical view on knowledge and truth

In a “loving struggle” with the often-misunderstood phenomenology of the ‘Face,’ Roger Burggraeve critically explicitates how Levinas goes beyond Husserl’s notion of “the intentionality of consciousness.” In a first movement, Burggraeve points out the paradoxical “epiphenomenality”of the Face. It is beyond  perception and representation. Unlike the I who discloses the meaning of the Other, the Face as “epiphany” makes meaning arise before the I and reveals itself as the origin of meaning. The Face escapes the images and ideas of the I. Here, Levinas speaks of “exteriority” not as “spatial distance” but as absolutely different. In a second movement, Burggraeve deepens the positive meaning of the Face as expression and revelation. An absence in its presence, the Face is an “expression of the invisible by the visible” through the glance and the word of the Other. In this sense, the Face of the Other teaches the I something incredibly new. Escaping the grasp of the I and forever a surprise, the Face obliges the I to listen to a new meaning of knowledge and truth based on ethical responsibility.In a third movement, the Face manifests its radical alterity. Absolute experience is not disclosure but revelation. The Face arouses “a traumatism of astonishment” to promote the Wisdom of Love which is spelled out as respect,ethical responsibility, and justice for the Other. Only then is there beyond recognition, a true acknowledgement of the Other

Vulnerable responsibility

The authors have developed the ethical imagination inviting a sense of “otherness” towards the vulnerable self, rebounding care for the other as a way to understand our everyday neurotic (normal) tendency of small vices as the propensity and possibility for responsibility towards the other. The authors, inviting the reader into troublesome feelings such as laziness and anger, bring a Levinasian horizon into focus, so that even in the midst of laziness, there remains the small goodness to set the self free to care for the other, meeting the demands, challenges, hesitation, shuddering, tension and shocks of such alterity, of living “otherwise”

Die bydrae van ’n haalbare gasvryheids- en ontmoetingsetiek in die etiese versorging van gesondheidsorgwerkers

Published ArticleThe authors of this study advocate for the contribution a double ethic of hospitality and engagement can make towards the ethical care of healthcare workers. Their contribution is based on two studies in healthcare. The South African case outlines challenges with regard to resources, communication and expectations. The Belgium case study draws attention to the traditional approach and suggests a new paradigm, namely to respect the patient as subject and therefore the importance of meeting the patient in his/her situation. Both cases sensitise the reader to the ethical vulnerability of the healthcare worker suggesting that a double ethic of hospitality and engagement is needed to address this challenge. The question of ethical coaching is addressed via a real life example in which the healthcare workers are placed in a simulation laboratory and then treated as “patients” by other healthcare workers. This simulation gives insight into the real needs of patients and how healthcare workers should care for them

Geen toekomst zonder kleine goedheid. Naar genereus samenleven in verantwoordelijkheid vanuit Emmanuel Levinas

status: publishe

Vergeving als gave

status: publishe

Sobering Up To the Other: Levinas Paradoxical View on Mystical Enthusiasm

In the thought of Levinas, we discover a double, apparetnly contradictory approach to mystical ethusiasm. Upon closer inspection, however, they do not annul each other but on the contrary need each other. Inthe Period of his first major work, Totality and Infinity, Levinas is quite disapproving of 'mystical enthusiasm'. Later, in the period of his second major work Otherwise than Being or Beyound Essence, the idea of enthusiasm appears once again but the one-sided negative connotation has rather disappeared. Especially Levinas' movement of transDescendence offers prossibilities for a Christian 'thorough reflection' on mysticism, starting from Spirit-theology