An original contribution to a continental philosophy of ethics

François Raffoul approaches the concept of responsibility in a manner that is distinct from its traditional interpretation as accountability of the willful subject. Exploring responsibility in the works of Nietzsche, Sartre, Levinas, Heidegger, and Derrida, Raffoul identifies decisive moments in the development of the concept, retrieves its origins, and explores new reflections on it. For Raffoul, responsibility is less about a sovereign subject establishing a sphere of power and control than about exposure to an event that does not come from us and yet calls to us. These original and thoughtful investigations of the post-metaphysical senses of responsibility chart new directions for ethics in the continental tradition.

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Raffoul provides a rich genealogy of concepts of responsibility from thinkers in the Continental tradition. . . . Recommended.

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Raffoul is very persuasive in arguing . . . that Sartre, Heidegger, Levinas, and Derrida's philosophies, even when apparently involved in other not immediately ethical pursuits – existentialism, fundamental ontology, metaphysics,deconstruction – contain a fundamentally ethical concern. . . . [A] very fine book.Nov. 2014

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Raffoul displays throughout considerable skills of reading and exegesis, and he has an important story to tell about the history of responsibility. . . . There is a great deal to admire in this book and one can only look forward to [his] future work.