Towards a Spirituality of Responsibility

Iris Murdoch and Emmanuel Lévinas contributed significantly to the concept of the ethics of responsibility. Murdoch emphasizes the internal aspect of the human self that attracts individuals to be responsible, which manifests as a response to the Other with the practice of unselfing and attention. Meanwhile, Lévinas focuses on the external aspect of the human self, particularly the vulnerable faces of the Other that call upon individuals to take responsibility. In this article, the author will analyze the internal and external dimensions of Murdoch’s and Lévinas’ ethics of responsibility in conjunction with Amos Yong’s anthropology and pneumatology. The author aims to explore how this philosophical and theological approach can contribute towards developing a spirituality of responsibility, one characterized by relationality to oneself and others and guided by the discernment of the Spirit.