The philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas introduces a groundbreaking shift in ethical discourse by prioritizing the uniqueness of the "Other." Levinas redefines morality by emphasizing the existential precedence of the "Other" over the self, challenging the self-centered nature of modern individualism. This book offers a fresh perspective on Levinas’ thought, contextualizing his philosophy through his intellectual influences, dialogues with contemporaries, and imagined conversations with thinkers from both Eastern and Western traditions. It provides a profound exploration of the interplay between Jewish thought and universal philosophy, bridging particularistic commitments and global ethical perspectives. Accessible yet deeply scholarly, the book brings Levinas’ philosophy into broader social, religious, political, and interpretative contexts, making it an essential read for intellectual audiences.

“Professor Hanoch Ben-Pazi places Emmanuel Levinas in a fascinating and profound dialogue with more than a dozen leading contemporary philosophers, including Hermann Cohen, Martin Buber, Martin Heidegger, Franz Rosenzweig, Jean-Paul Sartre, Yeshayahu Leibowitz, and Joseph Ber Soloveitchik. However, Ben-Pazi surprisingly and compellingly argues that Levinas’ 'primary role model' was the oft-forgotten Parisian Jewish humanist, Léon Brunschvicg.” — Warren Zev Harvey, Professor Emeritus, Department of Jewish Thought, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

“In this beautiful book, Hanoch Ben-Pazi invites the reader to participate in four philosophical encounters between different major thinkers of the twentieth century. These meetings are either imagined or reconstructed against the backdrop of exchanges that actually took place between these thinkers during discussions whose issues still concern our modernity. Levinas is the guest of honor. Known for his predilection for ethics, and for his singular way of thinking about Judaism in tune with major philosophical questions, this philosopher delivers neither lectures, nor narrowly confessional remarks. Rather Ben-Pazi invites various high-quality guests to come and meet him. However, he is not content merely to reconstruct these exchanges but also joins the conversation, with relevance and audacity, often taking a step back to emphasize what seems most important to him. He wants to encourage readers to listen well since it is indeed the humanity of all of us that is at stake.” — Catherine Chalier, Professor Emeritus of philosophy, Nanterre University

“By placing Levinas in direct conversation with a range of thinkers from Gandhi to Derrida, and by drawing on the philosophers who influenced Levinas’s thinking, Hanoch Ben-Pazi has produced a stunning book that situates Levinas’s work in a wider context. By also focusing on Levinas’s broad range of themes, Ben-Pazi provides his readers not only with a deeper understanding but also a more complex picture of Levinas’s ethical project.” — Claire Katz, Professor of Philosophy and Education, Texas A&M University

Prof. Hanoch Ben-Pazi, Head of Weisfeld family Ma’ayan Center for Sustainability, Jewish Philosophy and Ethics. He is a professor in the Department of Jewish Philosophy at Bar Ilan University, specializing in modern philosophy and 20th-century Jewish thought, with a focus on ethics and identity in the works of Martin Buber, Emmanuel Levinas, and Franz Rosenzweig.