Browsing by Author "Van der Merwe, Willie"

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    The ethics of responsibility : the ethical philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas
    (SUN MeDIA Bloemfontein, 2008-06) Van der Merwe, Willie; De Voss, Vida
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Emmanuel Levinas’s ethics is based on the Other/other. He argues that we are in an asymmetrical relationship with our neighbour that pre-destines us to ethical responsibility even before consciousness or choice. In the face-to-face encounter an infinity and alterity about our neighbour is revealed, which is irreducible to our ontological grasp, and thereby compels us to respond to him. It is also through this relation that our humanity is released as our solipsistic “all-for-myself” becomes a “being-for-the-other”. Furthermore, the “I” is irreplaceable, thereby making each of us ethically responsible for our neighbour, even to the point of responsibility for his material misery. This paper introduces and, in the main, supports this idea of Levinas’s.
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    Multiculturalism(s)? A critical appraisal
    (Faculty of the Humanities, University of the Free State, 2003) Van der Merwe, Willie
    Various normative stances or responses in respect of multiculturalism are distinguished and briefly evaluated. The article focuses on what can be called “mosaic multiculturalism” — a multicultural condition (and concomitant responses) in which communities and individuals strive to protect (aspects of) their value systems from contamination or erosion by others and demand public recognition of them. The article examines the justifiability of such a “politics of recognition”. It tries to show that the ultimate ground of “mosaic multiculturalism” is an aporia, which allows for ongoing intercultural critique, and provides a basis for intercultural tolerance.