The Origins of Responsibility

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.