The Ethical Demand

Download or read book The Ethical Demand written by K. E. Løgstrup and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020-03-19 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Ethical Demand (1956) by K. E. L�gstrup is one of the great works of modern moral philosophy: it is presented here in a new translation with introduction and notes. L�gstrup puts forward his distinctive view concerning our vulnerability to each other and what this requires of us in response. He starts by considering Jesus's 'proclamation' to love your neighbour and how this can be understood in 'purely human terms' as relating to basic features of our existence. Reflecting on the phenomenon of trust, L�gstrup emphasizes the fundamental interdependence of human life and how this gives rise to an 'ethical demand' on us to care for the other, which he characterizes as radical, silent, one-sided, and unfulfillable. In order to make sense of a demand of this sort, L�gstrup argues, we must see 'life as a gift', rather than treating ourselves as the sovereign grounds for our own existence. He contrasts this demand to social norms, which are often reciprocal in this way, and argues that while such norms are changeable, the ethical demand itself is absolute. L�gstrup therefore makes a fundamental contribution to our understanding of the nature of-and basis for-our obligations to each other. In this critical edition, L�gstrup's original text is accurately rendered into readable English and paired with an introduction which explains the main themes and wider context of the work.