Levinas and the crisis of humanism / Claire Elise Katz.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The limits of the humanities -- Solitary men -- The crisis of humanism -- Before phenomenology -- The promise of Jewish education -- Teaching, fecundity, responsibility -- Humanism found.

Reexamining Emmanuel Levinas's essays on Jewish education within the context of his larger philosophical project, Claire Elise Katz provides new insights into the importance of education and its potential to transform society. Katz examines Levinas's "Crisis of Humanism" which motivated his effort to describe a new ethical subject. Taking into account his multiple influences on social science and the humanities, and his various identities as a Jewish thinker, philosopher, and educator, Katz delves deeply into Levinas's works to understand the grounding of this ethical subject and democracy.