Rising from the Ruins: Reason, Being, and the Good After Auschwitz

156 Pages·1998·4.249 MB·English

by  Garth Jackson Gillan

RISING FROM THE RUINS

RISING
FROM THE RUINS
Reason, Being, and the Good
after Auschwitz
GARTH JACKSON GILLAN
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
©1998 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gillan, Garth, 1939-
Rising from the ruins : reason, being, and the good after
Auschwitz / Garth Jackson Gillan.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7914-3733-7 (hc : alk. paper). - ISBN 0-7914-3734-5
(pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Life. 2. Reason. 3. Ontology. 4. Good and evil.
5. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)-lnfluence. I. Title.
BD435.G46 1998
128-dc21 97-35889
elP
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Johanna, Rebecca, Daniel,
Susannah, Jonathan, and Miriam

contents
Preface lX
Introduction 1
1. Violence and Language 25
2. Death and Ontology 49
3. The Politics of Rupture 65
4. The Ethics of Heteronomy 87
5. The Redemption of Reason 109
Postscript 127
Notes 129
Index 135
I would like to acknowledge the editorial assistance of
Mr. Gary Mullen who undertook the task of finding
and checking references and serving as a sounding
board.