Emmanuel Levinas' Conceptual Affinities with Liberation Theology analyzes Levinas' work in
relation to two important liberation theologians Gustavo Gutiérrez and Jon Sobrino whose
scholarship like his needs to be brought into greater contemporary debate about the subject's
encounter with the other. More specifically this book argues that for Levinas Gutiérrez and
Sobrino commitment to the neighbor is the necessary context for «understanding» God. They
posit the human other as the possibility of the subject's subjectivity. To be human is to act
with love toward one's neighbor. Thus the author articulates the possibility of reading
Levinas' philosophy as a revalidation of one of the truths of Christianity: the concern for the
humanity of every human person as expressed in Christian theology in general and liberation
theology in particular. In order to show the relevance of Levinas' philosophy for Christian
theology in general the author discusses three Christian scholars Enrique Dussel Jean-Luc
Marion and Michael Purcell. Although they challenge some aspects of Levinas' philosophy they
nevertheless see its significance for Christian theological anthropology. The discussion
concludes by proposing Levinas' philosophy and liberation theology's turn to the neighbor as
significant for addressing contemporary socio-political and ethnic conflicts in sub-Saharan
Africa.
