Levinas, Disinterest and Enthusiasm

If Goffman Had Read Levinas

The article attempts to explore fundamental assumptions underlying Goffman’s theory of interaction. Goffman’s work has long been criticized for certain pervasive weaknesses such as the idea of a self as ‘inside’ and therefore inaccessible, an indifference to any distinction between appearance and reality, and a lack of concern for morality. It is argued that combating these and related problems...

Enthusiasm: it's catching.

Alexander Grothendieck: Enthusiasm and Creativity

Alexander Grothendieck was born in Berlin on 28 March 1928. His father, Sascha Shapiro, an anarchist originally from Russia, took an active part in the revolutionary movements first in Russia, and then in Germany, during the 1920s, where he met Hanka Grothendieck, Alexander’s mother. After the Nazis came to power in Germany it was too dangerous for a Jewish revolutionary to stay there, and the ...

Accusing the Erotic Subject in Levinas

ions and Concretions In the history of philosophy, the aim has predominantly been a universal and therefore neutral description of phenomena. The sphere of the erotic, so clearly linked to the sexual and gendered speci@city and singularity of the subject, seems for this reason to be a diLcult subject for philosophers. At what level of abstraction should one approach the erotic phenomenon? Pheno...

Measuring patients' views: between enthusiasm and reality.

In 1947, the World Health Organization broadened the definition of health as 'a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity' [1]. This new paradigm, representing the ideals of modern medicine, measuring patients' views on their psychological fulfilment, satisfaction and well-being, became an important outcome both in clinical asse...