Beyond the Ethical Demand

The Danish theologian-philosopher K. E. L gstrup is second in reputation in his homeland only to S ren Kierkegaard. He is best known outside Europe for his The Ethical Demand, first published in Danish in 1956 and published in an expanded English translation in 1997.

Beyond the Ethical Demand contains excerpts, translated into English for the first time, from the numerous books and essays L gstrup continued to write throughout his life. In the first essay, he engages the critical response to The Ethical Demand, clarifying, elaborating, or defending his original positions. In the next three essays, he extends his contention that human ethics ＂demands＂ that we are concerned for the other by introducing the crucial concept of ＂sovereign expressions of life.＂ Like Levinas, L gstrup saw in the phenomenon of ＂the other＂ the ground for his ethics. In his later works he developed this concept of ＂the sovereign expressions of life,＂ spontaneous phenomena such as trust, mercy, and sincerity that are inherently other-regarding. The last two essays connect his ethics with political life.

Interest in L gstrup in the English-speaking academic community continues to grow, and these important original sources will be essential tools for scholars exploring the further implications of his ethics and phenomenology.

K. E. Logstrup (1905-1981) was professor of ethics and philosophy of religion at the University of Aarhus until his retirement in 1975. He is the author of The Ethical Demand (University of Notre Dame Press, 1997) and numerous books and essays in Danish.