Psychology for the Other: Levinas, Ethics and the Practice of Psychology

This book is the first systematic and broad-based attempt to bring to psychology the intriguing work of Emmanuel Levinas. Because contemporary psychology, in its adherence to the philosophical and methodological underpinnings of naturalistic science, too often abandons the questions about morality and ethical obligation, Levinas's writings about the experience of the face of the Other and the ethical obligation therein become particularly relevant.

In ten original essays by distinguished scholars--some philosophers, clinicians, and academic psychologists--the potential and experiential impact of Levinas's work in the understanding of our fundamental human nature and the practice of psychotheraphy are explored. Ultimately, the intention is to create a new discipline: namely, a "science of the ethical."