The Danish theologian-philosopher K. E. Løgstrup is second in reputation
in his homeland only to Søren 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 Løgstrup
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, Løgstrup 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 Løgstrup 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.
