What Is Ethically Demanded?: K. E. Løgstrup's Philosophy of Moral Life

This collection of essays by leading international philosophers considers central themes in the ethics of Danish philosopher Knud Ejler Logstrup (1905-1981). Logstrup was a Lutheran theologian much influenced by phenomenology and by strong currents in Danish culture, to which he himself made important contributions. The essays in What Is Ethically Demanded? K. E. Logstrup's Philosophy of Moral Life are divided into four sections. The first section deals predominantly with Logstrup's relation to Kant and, through Kant, the system of morality in general. The second section focuses on how Logstrup stands in connection with Kierkegaard, Heidegger, and Levinas. The third section considers issues in the development of Logstrup's ethics and how it relates to other aspects of his thought. The final section covers certain central themes in Logstrup's position, particularly his claims about trust and the unfulfillability of the ethical demand. The volume includes a previously untranslated early essay by Logstrup, "The Anthropology of Kant's Ethics," which defines some of his basic ethical ideas in opposition to Kant's. The book will appeal to philosophers and theologians with an interest in ethics and the history of philosophy. Contributors: K. E. Logstrup, Svend Andersen, David Bugge, Svein Aage Christoffersen, Stephen Darwall, Peter Dews, Paul Faulkner, Hans Fink, Arne Gron, Alasdair MacIntyre, Wayne Martin, Kees van Kooten Niekerk, George Pattison, Robert Stern, and Patrick Stokes.

Table of Contents:
List of Abbreviations Introduction by Hans Fink and Robert Stern Part 1. Løgstrup, Kant, and Modern Kantianism 1. The Anthropology of Kant's Ethics by K. E. Løgstrup 2. Løgstrup on Morals and "the Sovereign Expressions of Life" by Stephen Darwall 3. Løgstrup's Point: The Complementarity between the Ethical Demand and All Other Moral Demands by Hans Fink Part 2. Løgstrup, Kierkegaard, Heidegger, and Levinas 4. Løgstrup on Death, Guilt, and Existence in Kierkegaard and Heidegger by George Pattison 5. The Configuration of the Ethical Demand in Løgstrup and Levinas by Peter Dews 6. The Ethical Demand: Kierkegaard, Løgstrup, and Levinas by Arne Grøn Part 3. The Development of Løgstrup's Ethics 7. Kierkegaard's Demand, Transformed by Løgstrup by Svend Andersen 8. The Ethical Demand and Its Ontological Presuppositions by Svein Aage Christoffersen 9. Løgstrup's Conception of the Sovereign Expressions of Life by Kees van Kooten Niekerk 10. The Out-Side In-Sight: Løgstrup and Fictional Writing by David Bugge Part 4. Themes and Problems: Trust, Dependency, and Unfulfillability 11. Trust and the Radical Ethical Demand by Paul Faulkner 12. Danish Ethical Demands and French Common Goods: Two Moral Philosophies by Alasdair MacIntyre 13. Spontaneity and Perfection: MacIntyre versus Løgstrup by Patrick Stokes 14. "Duty and Virtue Are Moral Introversions": On Løgstrup's Critique of Morality by Robert Stern 15. Løgstrup's Unfulfillable Demand by Wayne Martin List of Contributors Index

About the Author :
Hans Fink is professor emeritus of philosophy at Aarhus University. Robert Stern is professor of philosophy at the University of Sheffield.

Review :
"The opening selection from Løgstrup's early writings, the 14 engaging and diverse assessments of Løgstrup's work, and the editors Hans Fink's and Robert Stern's close interweaving of these essays into 4 clear and critical divisions make Løgstrup's relevance apparent. . . . Hence, this volume could easily become a handbook for graduate programs and schools of theology wishing to teach this compelling, but long neglected thinker." —Reading Religion "Knud Ejler Løgstrup's The Ethical Demand should have been recognized long ago as, at least, a minor classic if not a landmark in twentieth-century moral philosophy. Hopefully Fink and Stern's excellent collection of essays will help Løgstrup's writings receive the reading and reception they deserve. The best of the essays in this volume are philosophically subtle and morally engaged in ways that reveal the significance and depth of Løgstrup's demanding ethical thought." —J. M. Bernstein, New School for Social Research "Fink and Stern's collection reveals just why this Danish thinker is a landmark in ethical conversation. . . . Each part of the book provides new ways of seeing the ethical demand of [the] subjectivity present in Løgstrup's philosophy. . . . Phenomenologists and ethicists will do well to take note." —Studies in Christian Ethics "This book introduces Løgstrup's central idea of 'the ethical demand' and probes various aspects of how it should best be understood and its significance for ethics. While some recent work has explored the relation between The Ethical Demand and some of Løgstrup's later work, especially on the 'sovereign expressions of life,' one thing that is interesting about this collection is that while it further advances those discussions, it also traces elements of Løgstrup's thought back to his earlier work—chiefly, but not only, through the inclusion of a translation of his relatively early essay 'The Anthropology of Kant's Ethics.' The collection will make a significant contribution to the progress of the study of Løgstrup in English. It will make an excellent companion volume to other titles published by Notre Dame by and about Løgstrup." —John Lippitt, University of Hertfordshire "Løgstrup's intent—to reach the secular world with the message of Jesus—is a contemporary issue of vital importance. . . . [This] is a work most likely to be appreciated by scholars and advanced students in philosophy and theology." —Catholic Library World