Encountering Finitude, Confronting Infinitude: Leo Tolstoy, Emmanuel Levinas, and the Ethics of Non-Resistance

This article follows a strand of ethical thought that weaves itself throughout Leo Tolstoy’s religious writings: the injunction of non-resistance. This ethical position has been described by some critics as a form of religious idolatry in Tolstoy’s work. I challenge that claim in this article by dep...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Fishley, Daniel (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage [2019]
In: Studies in Christian ethics
Year: 2020, Volume: 33, Issue: 3, Pages: 318-335
IxTheo Classification:KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history
NBE Anthropology
NCC Social ethics
TK Recent history
VA Philosophy
Further subjects:B Emmanuel Levinas
B non-resistance
B Continental Philosophy
B Christian Ethics
B Leo Tolstoy
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Description
Summary:This article follows a strand of ethical thought that weaves itself throughout Leo Tolstoy’s religious writings: the injunction of non-resistance. This ethical position has been described by some critics as a form of religious idolatry in Tolstoy’s work. I challenge that claim in this article by deploying the work of Emmanuel Levinas to provide much needed nuance to Tolstoy’s call for non-resistance. Via the ethical framework provided by Levinas, I contend that Tolstoy’s positions are built upon a conception of the finite world that sees a proper comportment to finitude as the mode by which one engages the infinite. This ethical call is one that escapes satiation by demanding a ceaseless act of non-resistance—which is, for him, the essential kernel of the Christian message. Tolstoy’s God, I argue, is this infinite demand; something akin to an ethical claim that marks the subject—a mandate that is met when one enacts the ethical obligation of non-resistance.
ISSN:0953-9468
Contains:Enthalten in: Studies in Christian ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0953946819860345