Radical Hospitality: Height and Excess of the Other and the New Host Self

<p>Drawing on Emmanuel Levinas’ ethical framework and its emphasis on the “height and excess” of “the Other,” this thesis explores and develops a sense of “radical hospitality” in Levinas and across Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In particular, the thesis explores how encounter with the Other is not only marked by an overwhelming excess, but one which transforms the subject into what I call a “New Host Self:” Where the self is the host who greets the stranger with hospitality, it is ultimately the stranger—the refugee, the migrant—who transforms the host into someone new. Here, the host ultimately receives a gift from the guest—and we can in this regard speak of a paradox in which the host/giver ultimately becomes a receiver/guest. After exploring radical hospitality in a range of philosophical and religious text traditions, I go on to share a personal narrative of my own experiences both as a migrant and serving refugees, considering in particular how radical hospitality can—in its capacity to precipitate a new sense of self as host—reorient our political selves towards better serving neighbors in need.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Year

2024

Author dc:creator

• Alikhani, Diako

Contributors dc:contributor

• Sarah Pessin
• Andrea Stanton
• Ted Vial

• Philosophy
• Radical hospitality
• Emmanuel Levinas
• Judaism
• Christianity
• Islam
• Arts and Humanities
• Islamic Studies
• Jewish Studies
• Religion
• Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion

Statement dc:rights

• <p>Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.</p>

Language dc:language

English (eng)

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/2387

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.du.edu:etd-3381