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An exploration of human rights as "the surpassing of the political" draws on insights on society & politics provided by Emmanuel Levinas (1905-1995). The link between the ethical good & evil is explored to illustrate the complexity of the intertwined relationship between evil, ethics, & guilt. The social-political realization of human responsibility is addressed to argue that good & evil are not as far apart as commonly believed. Evil is not only different from the good but it "clings on to the good itself as its own shadow." The constant risk that the ethical good will be perverted into the evil of the good is examined, along with Levinas' call for a "permanent revolution" in the struggle for the structural realization of justice. Other issues considered include Levinas' view of historical Stalinism; the need for both social & economic justice; & the prophetic-critical force of human rights. Levinas' theological view of human rights as both the foundation of social, economic, judicial, & political order, & a "trace that leads towards God" is discussed. J. Lindroth

Emmanuel Levinas died a few days before he would have been ninety years old, on December 25, 1995, very early on a Monday morning, in the Paris clinic of Beaujon, where he had been admitted the previous day with serious heart complications.

The possibilities of creativity in human life depend on discovering the meaning of life. Franz Kafka's story Before the Law evokes how every attempt at finding this meaning, represented as the law, comes with a crisis and can result in failure. The secret of human existence is all about intimate personal encounters. The other than myself, which is also deeply present inside myself, is not the impersonal thing that it is oftentimes made out to be. In an already published article, we presented a close-reading of Kafka's text. We only refer to the results in the first paragraph. In this article, we read the biblical narrative on Adam and Eve as a text that is structured by the same economy – the intertwinedness of the I-Thou relation with the I-It relation. But in opposition to the Kafka narrative, the crisis is overcome and results in a new creative perspective on the human condition: the discovery of the ultimate intersubjective meaning of life. The meaning makes love and labour possible. It means that the creativity of becoming human is the result of interaction. The context of our research is a long project on developing a philosophical reading of Biblical texts that was developed at the KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. The methodology is inspired by the Talmudic readings of Emmanuel Levinas and by the philosophical interpretations of the Bible of Paul Ricœur. In this way, we introduce a non-confessional way of understanding religious texts on the creativity of becoming human. Santrauka Kūrybiškumo galimybės žmogaus gyvenime priklauso nuo atrastos gyvenimo prasmės. Franzo Kafkos apysaka Prieš įstatymą sukelia minčių, kaip bet kokiomis pastangomis rasti šią įstatymo simbolizuojamą prasmę, prasidedančią nuo krizės ir galinčią baigtis nesėkme. Žmogaus egzistavimo paslaptis yra absoliučiai neatsiejama nuo intymių asmeninių sutikčių. Kitas, skirtingai nei aš pats, kuris taip pat esti giliai manyje pačiame, nėra nesuasmenintas daiktas, kuris dažnai taip traktuojamas. Jau paskelbtame straipsnyje pristatėme nuodugnų Kafkos teksto aiškinimą. Pirmame skirsnyje tiesiog pateikiame prieitas išvadas. Šiame straipsnyje interpretuojame biblinį Adomo ir Ievos naratyvą kaip tekstą, kurio struktūra grindžiama tokia pat ekonomija – Aš–Tu ir Aš–Tai santykio sampyna. Tačiau, priešingai Kafkos naratyvui, krizė įveikiama ir baigiasi nauja kūrybine žmogaus būklės perspektyva, atradus didžiausią intersubjektyvią gyvenimo prasmę. Prasmė suteikia galimybę mylėti ir dirbti. Tai reiškia, kad tapimo žmogumi kūrybiškumas yra sąveikavimo rezultatas. Mūsų tyrimo kontekstą sudaro Leveno katalikiškajame universitete (Levenas, Belgija) vykdytas ilgalaikis projektas, plėtojęs filosofines biblinių tekstų interpretacijas. Šiuo atveju pristatome nekonfesinį būdą suprasti religinius tekstus, skirtus tapimo žmogumi kūrybiškumui.

The possibilities of creativity in human life depend on discovering the meaning of life. Franz Kafka's story Before the Law evokes how every attempt at finding this meaning, represented as the law, comes with a crisis and can result in failure. The secret of human existence is all about intimate personal encounters. The other than myself, which is also deeply present inside myself, is not the impersonal thing that it is oftentimes made out to be. In an already published article, we presented a close-reading of Kafka's text. We only refer to the results in the first paragraph. In this article, we read the biblical narrative on Adam and Eve as a text that is structured by the same economy – the intertwinedness of the I-Thou relation with the I-It relation. But in opposition to the Kafka narrative, the crisis is overcome and results in a new creative perspective on the human condition: the discovery of the ultimate intersubjective meaning of life. The meaning makes love and labour possible. It means that the creativity of becoming human is the result of interaction. The context of our research is a long project on developing a philosophical reading of Biblical texts that was developed at the KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. The methodology is inspired by the Talmudic readings of Emmanuel Levinas and by the philosophical interpretations of the Bible of Paul Ricœur. In this way, we introduce a non-confessional way of understanding religious texts on the creativity of becoming human. Keywords: creation narrative, dialogical thinking, human condition, Kafka, Levinas, meaning of life, Rosenzweig.

The possibilities of creativity in human life depend on discovering the meaning of life. Franz Kafka's story Before the Law evokes how every attempt at finding this meaning, represented as the law, comes with a crisis and can result in failure. The secret of human existence is all about intimate personal encounters. The other than myself, which is also deeply present inside myself, is not the impersonal thing that it is oftentimes made out to be. In an already published article, we presented a close-reading of Kafka's text. We only refer to the results in the first paragraph. In this article, we read the biblical narrative on Adam and Eve as a text that is structured by the same economy – the intertwinedness of the I-Thou relation with the I-It relation. But in opposition to the Kafka narrative, the crisis is overcome and results in a new creative perspective on the human condition: the discovery of the ultimate intersubjective meaning of life. The meaning makes love and labour possible. It means that the creativity of becoming human is the result of interaction. The context of our research is a long project on developing a philosophical reading of Biblical texts that was developed at the KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. The methodology is inspired by the Talmudic readings of Emmanuel Levinas and by the philosophical interpretations of the Bible of Paul Ricœur. In this way, we introduce a non-confessional way of understanding religious texts on the creativity of becoming human. Keywords: creation narrative, dialogical thinking, human condition, Kafka, Levinas, meaning of life, Rosenzweig.