Martine Berenpas
PhD candidate
- Name
- M. Berenpas MA
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 2031
- m.berenpas@hum.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0001-6037-8740
Martine Berenpas is a lecturer and PhD candidate at the Institute for Philosophy.
More information about Martine Berenpas
Research
In my research I reflect on the comparative aspect of intercultural philosophy, in which I address the problematic nature of the assertion of commonality. Research in intercultural philosophy is motivated by the assertion of commonality, the desire to discern similarities and differences between two different cultures. Studies conducted in intercultural philosophy however rarely reflect on how the intercultural philosophers’ own pre-comparative knowledge and presuppositions influence the comparison at stake. I particularly focus on studies that compare the thinking of Emmanuel Levinas to the early Daoist writings of the Zhuāngzǐi, given that these studies bring two philosophies into comparison through assuming several commonalities between these thinkers. These studies however fail to address that both Levinas as the Zhuāngzǐ think difference as difference and argue that comparison relies on standards that are either impossible to establish or reduce that what is other to the same. I show that these thinkers are however important to comparative philosophy and can provide us with a new method on how we can engage in intercultural thinking. Levinas’ formulation of “infinite responsibility to the Other” and the Zhuāngzǐ’s focus on “the pivot of dào” enable us to envision philosophy and philosophical methodology in a different way. Philosophy is for Levinas and the Zhuāngzǐ not about establishing what is “objectively true” and intercultural philosophy is not about comparing objectified positions or different cultural frameworks. Instead, philosophical reflection moves toward the other and the other’s perspectives, and on that basis pursues what responsibility to the other consists in.
Curriculum vitae
BA, Ma (Leiden University), Bsc, Msc (Health psychology, Leiden University). I taught feminist theory, Chinese philosophy and the mimetic theory of Girard. Recently I joined the board of the Levinas Studiekring.
Key Publications
On Facing one’s students: The re. levance of Emmanuel Levinas on teaching in times of Covid-19. Journal of Philosophy of Education (2021).
“The Ethics of Torture” In: Introduction to Ethics. Edited by Noah Levin. 2020.
Fields of interest
- Comparative philosophy
- Continental philosophy
- Feminist Theory
PhD candidate
- Faculty of Humanities
- Instituut voor Wijsbegeerte
- Berenpas M. (2021), On facing one’s students: the relevance of Emmanuel Levinas on teaching in times of Covid-19, Journal of Philosophy of Education 55(4-5): 649-664.
- Berenpas M. (2020), God in de Ander: Emmanuel Levinas en de ethische relatie , Radix. Tijdschrift over geloof, wetenschap en samenleving 2(46): 1-167.
- Berenpas M. (2019), Unsaying the said: Emmanuel Levinas and the Zhuangzi on linguistic scepticism, Empedocles 10(1): 87-99.
- Berenpas M. (2019), The Ethics of Torture. In: Levin N. (Ed.), Introduction to Ethics: An Open Educational Resource no. 1. Huntington Beach: NGE Far Press. 44-49.
- Berenpas M. (2018), Het experiment: Stop met stoplichten, Filosofie Magazine 2018(2): .
- Sneller H.W., Berenpas M., Welten R., Hagenbeek S., Camp N. van, Oostveen D., Braak A. van der, Konings P. & Haas L. de (2018), Terrorisme als symptoom van de culturele crisis: Mimetische rivaliteit en de sacralisering van geweld, Tijdschrift filosofie 27(3): .
- Berenpas M. (2017), An Asian ethics of hospitality: hospitality in Confucian, Daoist and Buddhist philosophy. In: Lashley Conrad (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of hospitality studies. Routledge Handbooks. London and New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. 442.
- Gaillott J., Reed W. & Berenpas M. (2016), The implications of spying and torture for human freedom from a Sartrean point of view. In: Gaillott J. & Reed W. (Eds.), Ethics and the future of spying: Technology, National Security and Intelligence Collection (Studies in Intelligence. Ethics and the future of spying: Technology, National Security and Intelligence Collection. New York: Routledge.
- Berenpas M. (2013), Jean-Paul Sartre on oppression and violence. In: Roshandel Jalil & Lean Nathan (Eds.), The moral psychology of terrorism: Implications for security. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 30-43.
- Berenpas M. (2011), Jean-Paul Sartre and the possibility of authentic love, Kritikos. Journal of postmodern cultural sound, text and image 8(March-April): .