“A Century with Levinas: On the Ruins of Totality”

“Has my whole life gone by between a constant foreboding of Hitlerism and the Hitlerism that refuses to let itself be forgotten?” (Emmanuel Levinas)

Under the auspices of:
the Center for Religious Studies and Research, Vilnius University and
the Department of Philosophy, Kaunas Technological University.

Supported by:
the hosting institutions,
the Lituanian Ministry of Education and Culture,
the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
the Raissa and Emmanuel Levinas Center (MOFET, Jerusalem),
the Levinas Ethical Legacy Foundation (LELF, New York) and
the Association pour la Célébration du Centenaire d’Emmanuel Levinas (ACCEL, Paris).

Organizing Committee:
Dr. Dalius Jonkus (Lithuanian Association of Phenomenology),
Dr. Aušra Pažėraitė (Vilnius University, Center for Religious Studies and Research),
Prof. Dr. Rita Šerpytytė (Vilnius University, Center for Religious Studies and Research),
Dr. Tomas Sodeika (Kaunas Technological University, the Department of Philosophy and Lithuanian Association of Phenomenology),
Dr. Ilya Dvorkin (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, University of St Petersburg, Russia),
Dr. Anna Yampolskaya (Russian State University for Humanities, Moscow, Russia).

PRESENTATION

The philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas is illustrative of an irreducible intertwining of ethics, politics, philosophy, Judaism and the Holocaust. As both a memorial and a prism on contemporary issues, the goal of this conference is to examine the totalitarian maelstroms of the 20th century, in particular Nazism and the Holocaust, through the religious and ethical perspectives of Levinassian thought.

This conference, which will be held in Emmanuel Levinas’ country of birth, where 94% of the Jewish community was murdered during the Holocaust, is a key event in the series of Levinas centennial celebrations in 2006. It is the first international conference in Lithuania entirely devoted to Emmanuel Levinas. The participants include phenomenologists, specialists in the history of philosophy, the philosophy of religion and Jewish thought. By making the philosophy of Levinas known in Lithuania, this conference will contribute to promote french philosophy in Lithuania as well as to the renaissance of the Jewish community and culture of this country.

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

  • Dr. Danutė Bacevičiūtė (Culture, Philosophy and Arts Research Institute, Vilnius, Lithuania)
  • Prof. David Banon (Université Marc Bloch, Strasbourg, France)
  • Prof. Jūratė Baranova (Vilnius Pedagogical University, Lithuania)
  • Nerijus Čepulis (Kaunas Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania)
  • Prof. Alexei G. Chernyakov (St-Petersburg School of Religion and Philosophy, Russia)
  • Prof. Richard Cohen (The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA)
  • Dr. Ilya Dvorkin (University of St-Petersburg, Russia)
  • Prof. James E. Faulconer (Philosophy Department, Brigham Young University, Provo Utah, USA)
  • Dr. Martin Gak (New Shool for Social Research, New York, USA)
  • Dr. Mintautas Gutauskas (Vilnius University, Lithuania)
  • Dr. Joëlle Hansel (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel)
  • Prof. Georges Hansel (Rouen University, France)
  • Dr. Dalius Jonkus (Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania)
  • Prof. Alphonso Lingis (Pennsylvania State University, USA)
  • Prof. Gintautas Mažeikis (Šiauliai University, Lithuania)
  • Prof. Algis Mickūnas (Ohio University, USA)
  • Dr. Nerijus Milerius (Vilnius University, Lithuania)
  • Thomas Newman (University College London, England)
  • Prof. David Patterson (The University of Memphis, USA)
  • Dr. Aušra Pažėraitė (Vilnius University, Lithuania)
  • Dr. Hanoch ben Pazi (Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel)
  • Benjamin Radelet (The Ethics Institute, Utrecht University, The Netherlands)
  • Prof. Jean-Michel Salanskis (Université Paris X-Nanterre France)
  • Dr. Tomas Sodeika (Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania)
  • Prof. Rita Šerpytytė (Vilnius University, Lithuania)
  • Tomáš Tatranský (Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland)
  • Prof. Andrius Valevicius (Sherbrokke University, Quebec, Canada)
  • Prof. Bernhard Waldenfels (Ruhr Universitat, Bochum, Germany)
  • Dr. Shmuel Wygoda (Herzog College and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel)
  • Dr. Anna Yampolskaya (Russian State University for Humanities, Moscow, Russia)
  • Dr. Igor Zaitzev (St-Petersburg School of Religion and Philosophy, Russia)
  • Dr. Audronė Žukauskaitė (Culture, Philosophy and Arts Research Institute Vilnius, Lithuania)

Contact person:
Ms. Jolanta Saldukaityte,
e-mail: jolanta.saldukaityte@rstc.vu.lt,
Website: in lithuanian and in english

PROGRAM

Monday, April 3
LEVINAS: CRISIS OF THOUGHT AND THOUGHT OF CRISIS

Morning Session (Vilnius University)
Moderators: Dr. Nerijus Milerius and Dr. Dalius Jonkus
8:30-9:00 Registration
9:00-9:30 Greetings
Prof. Juozas Vidmantis Vaitkus, Vice-rector of Vilnius University
Prof. Rita Šerpytytė, Director of Center for Religious Studies and Research at Vilnius University
Dr. David Hansel, CNRS, Paris, France
9:30-11:00
Prof. David Patterson (The University of Memphis, USA), What Makes Levinas a Jewish Thinker? (EN)
Prof. David Banon (University Marc Bloch, Strasbourg, France), Jewish Thinker or Jew who Thinks? (FR : Levinas, Penseur Juif ou Juif Qui Pense ?)
Dr. Hanoch ben Pazi (Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel), Beyond Forgiveness & the Impossibility Of Forgiveness (EN)
11:00-11:30 Coffee Break
11:30-12:30
Prof. Rita Šerpytytė (Vilnius University, Lithuania), Nihilism and the Problem of Sense: Levinas (LT)
Dr. Tomas Sodeika (Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania), On the Non-theoretical Source of Meaning (LT)
12:30-14:00 Lunch Break
14:00-14:45 Press-conference (Vilnius University, Faculty of Philosophy, Conference Hall)
Afternoon Session (Vilnius University)
Moderators: Dr. Tomas Sodeika and Prof. Rita Šerpytytė
15:00-16:30
Dr. Anna Yampolskaya (Russian State University for Humanities, Moscow, Russia), Reinventing Humanism: Sartre, Heidegger, Levinas (EN)
Dr. Dalius Jonkus (Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania), The Parallels of Sleep and Death in the Phenomenology of Levinas (LT)
Prof. Bernhard Waldenfels (Ruhr Universität, Bochum, Germany), Hyperbolic Justice (FR)
16:30-17:00 Coffee Break
17:00-18:30
Dr. Ilya Dvorkin (University of St-Petersburg, Russia and Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel), How to Say Farewell to Parmenides: the Quarrel of Ethics and Metaphysics in Emmanuel Levinas and Herman Cohen (RU)
Dr. Mintautas Gutauskas (Vilnius University, Lithuania), Levinas’ Conception of Dialogue: Continuation of Dialogue Philosophy and Critics of the Phenomenology (LT)
Prof. Alexei G. Chernyakov (St-Petersburg School of Religion and Philosophy, Russia), Language Beyond Essence: a Return of Sophistic (EN)

Tuesday, April 4
9:00 Departure to Kaunas
10:30-13:00 Excursion in Kaunas, Levinas native town
13:00-14:30 Lunch

LEVINAS AND EXPERIENCE OF SHOAH
Afternoon Session (Kaunas University of Technology)
Moderators: Dr. Tomas Sodeika and Dr. Aušra Pažėraitė
14:30-15:00 Greetings
15:00-17:00
Dr. Joëlle Hansel (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel), Levinas and the Presentment of the Shoah (EN)
Dr. Shmuel Wygoda (Herzog College and the Hebrew University, Israel), Between Kovno and Slabodka: Levinas and the Lithuanian Tradition (EN)
Dr. Aušra Pažėraitė (Vilnius University, Lithuania), Levinas: Shoah, violent Discourse and Identity (LI)
Prof. Jean-Michel Salanskis (University Paris X-Nanterre, France), Levinas and Pessimism (EN)
17:00-17:30 Coffee Break
17:30-19:30
Prof. Alphonso Lingis (Pennsylvania State University, USA), Detotalization and Finitude (EN)
Thomas Newman (University College London, England), Levinas – Dostoevsky – Genet: On Separation (EN)
Dr. Igor Zaitsev (St-Petersburg School of Religion and Philosophy, Russia), Estheticism of the Passive-Subject. Levinas and Dostoevsky (EN)
MA Nerijus Čepulis (Kaunas Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania), Totality. Light. Goodness (LI)
21:30 Returning to Vilnius

Wednesday, April 5
LEVINAS AND THE POSSIBILITY OF ETHICS AFTER AUSCHWITZ

Morning Session (Vilnius University)
Moderators: Prof. Algis Mickūnas and Prof. Rita Šerpytytė
10:00-11:30
Dr. Nerijus Milerius (Vilnius University, Lithuania), The Nostalgia of the Other: Levinas and Tarkovsky (LT)
Dr. Danutė Bacevičiūtė (Culture, Philosophy and Arts Research Institute, Vilnius, Lithuania), Death and Time: Towards the Source of Passivity (LT)
Prof. Algis Mickūnas (Ohio University, USA), Equi-valent (LT)
11:30-12:00 Coffee Break
12:00-13:00
Dr. Martin Gak (New School for Social Research, New York, USA), A first Sketch of Non-cognitive Ethical Realism (EN) Prof. Richard Cohen (The University of North Carolina at Charlote, USA), Levinas and the Paradox of Monotheism (EN)
13:00-14:30 Lunch
Afternoon Session (Vilnius University)
Moderators: Dr. Nerijus Milerius and Dr. Dalius Jonkus
14:30-16:30
Prof. James E. Faulconer (Philosophy Department, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA), „Akedah“: a Levinasian Reading of the Binding of Isaac (Genesis 22) (EN)
Prof. Jūratė Baranova (Vilnius Pedagogical University, Lithuania), Kant's Fourth Antinomy and Levinas‘ Odissey of Subject (LT)
Dr. Audronė Žukauskaitė (Culture, Philosophy and Arts Research Institute Vilnius, Lithuania), Is Ethics Always Impossible: Levinas with (against) Lacan (LT)
Prof. Gintautas Mažeikis (Šiauliai University, Lithuania), E. Levinas: the Other and Subject. On the Discussion of Levinas with S.Kierkegaard and l.Althusser (LT)
16:30-17:00 Coffee Break
17:30-19:00
Tomáš Tatranský (Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland), Am I Other for the Other? Levinas‘s Conception of Asymmetry Revisited (EN)
Benjamin Radelet (The Ethics Institute, Utrecht University, The Netherlands), Justice as Optics? The „always already“ of Levinas‘ Third Party (EN)
Prof. Georges Hansel (Rouen University, France), Levinas and Technology (EN)
Prof. Andrius Valevicius (Sherbrokke University, Quebec, Canada), The Spiritual Dimension of the Thought of Emmanuel Levinas. From Conversations with the Author and a Motivated Reading of his Work (EN)
19:00-19:30 Conclusions