Making Lovers: Emmanuel Levinas and Iris Murdoch on Moral Formation

Abstract

Mass society and neoliberalism induce a sense of political inefficacy and apathy in much of the population. Some propose that empathy could counter these forces, by motivating action to alleviate injustice and suffering. Critics of empathy, however, cast doubt on this proposal, for a number of reasons, including that empathy focuses on particular individuals, whereas justice has to do with the universal. This chapter argues for the importance of cultivating our moral capacity to attend to the particularity of the other. It examines the ethics of particularity of Emmanuel Levinas and Iris Murdoch to show how our attention to individuals’ specificity can support care and concern for humanity more generally, especially the most vulnerable.