Inhoudsopgave:|
The book systematically presents Derridaâs views on hospitality, as reflected in his texts and lectures from 1995 until his death in October 2004. Derridaâs engagement with hospitality is perhaps the most important and extensive philosophical attempt to respond critically to the growing hostility of many governments worldwide towards specific categories of foreigners, such as refugees and immigrants. Particular emphasis is placed on the âaporeticâ nature of hospitality that Derrida describes: namely, that, on the one hand, the provision of hospitality brings us face to face with the hyper-ethical âlawâ of âunconditional hospitality,â which requires the unconditional reception of the other, i.e. the provision of hospitality to the foreigner without conditions, restrictions or expecting anything in return. On the other hand, the provision of hospitality forces us to face the âconditionalâ laws of hospitality, which, while establishing a right to and a duty of hospitality, simultaneously restrict hospitality by setting conditions for the arrival and stay of the foreigner. The book also analyses the âdecisionâ and the âeventâ of hospitality, as well as the unresolved âaporiaâ at the heart of the ethics of hospitality (or of ethics in general), an aporia or contradiction related to the fact that we cannot be hospitable towards a singularity without âsacrificingâ some other singularities. Attention is paid to Derridaâs attempt to open the provision of hospitality beyond humans, that is, to other living beings. Derridaâs views on hospitality are examined in the book in the light of the philosophical thought of Emmanuel Levinas, Immanuel Kant and René Schérer. |
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