Light Through the Crack

An epidemic such as COVID-19 challenges life's very order and meaning, interferes in our relations with others, and breaks apart our routine. It raises many questions in the realms of ethics, politics, theology, psychology, and beyond. Perhaps more than anything else, it prompts us to ponder: what does this encounter with widespread anguish and distress imply about the human self-perception as sovereign rulers of Earthly life?

In this book, renowned thinker Avi Sagi explores the existential matters brought to the philosophical fore by the pandemic. He shows how we, when thrown into the terror of a crisis, carry the traditions, values, ideals, hopes, failures, and habits that constitute our lives, all shaping the way we grapple with questions seemingly resolved. We may then find that the crack that opens up at times of sorrow can also be a moment of discovery. Sagi analyzes various ways of confronting the crack now at the heart of our existence. What emerges is a clear normative statement: We are not only what we were but also what we can be, and we can create a world of meaning by standing together with others.

Discusses how crises, such as the COVID-19 epidemic, challenge the very meaning of existence Considers how this crack can be a moment of discovery Analyzes how, when confronting the crack, we learn we are not only what we were but also what we can be

Autorentext

Avi Sagi is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and founder of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Hermeneutics and Cultural Studies at Bar-Ilan University as well as Senior Research Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, Israel. He has published extensively on continental philosophy, Jewish thought, ethics, and religion. He is the author of many books, including Morality and Religion: The Jewish Story (Palgrave, 2021).

Inhalt
Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: An Essay on the Crack.- Chapter 3: The Ethics of a Solidary Stand in an Epidemic: Thoughts on The Plague.- Chapter 4: From Solipsism to Being with the Other.- Chapter 5: Epidemics, Rebellion, and Faith.- Chapter 6: Guilt, Responsibility, and Interpersonal Relations.- Chapter 7: Bereavement and Moral Birth: On Jacob's Moral Development.- Chapter 8: Suffering, Compassion, and Consolation: Reflections on Aharon Appelfeld's Writings.- Chapter 9: The Thou-Other Dialogue: On Distance and Closeness. Chapter 10: Epilogue.