[Buddha-l] Levinas and Buddhism

[Richard P. Hayes]

On Sat, 2005-05-28 at 13:38 -0400, Eric Nelson wrote:

> I have heard a number of lectures, mostly at the SACP, but little has
> been published on Levinas and comparative philosophy in general.

Philosophical fads always fascinate me. I heard Levinas's name for the
first time about four years ago. It come up again in a guest lecture in
the philosophy department this past semester, and since then it seems as
though I hear it almost daily. He seems to be quite the rage in
comparative philosophy and comparative religions circles, despite the
fact (from what I have been told by those who have actually read him)
that he was a deeply parochial man with almost no interest in anything
outside a fairly narrow interpretation of Judaism. Any comments on why
he has caught on? Was he on Oprah recently?

-- 
Richard Hayes
Department of Philosophy
University of New Mexico