Adi Ophir

Adi Ophir's main interest is modern and contemporary continental philosophy in the domains of ethics, political philosophy, and critical theory. He has written on twentieth thinkers like Arendt, Foucault, Lyotard, Leivnas, and Agamben, and about various aspects of Israeli culture and society. In his Order of Evils (Zone Books 2005, originally published as Lashon lara, Am Oved 2000) he presents an outline for "moral ontology" based on understanding of the social production and distribution of "evils" (losses, damages, injuries, suffering, and risks), and proposes a new interpretation of the concepts of evil and injustice. Working for the Present (Avodat Hahove, Hakkibutz Hameuchad 2001) is a collection of deconstructive readings of some major texts and events in contemporary Israeli culture. In 2002 he published with Ariella Azoulay Terrible Days (Yamim Raim, Resling 2002), a collection of critical essays on the political situation in Israel. This Regime Which is not One, his most recent book, co-authored with Ariella Azoulay (Resling 2008), is a historical survey and a comprehensive anatomy of the Israeli rule in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and its impact on the Israeli political system. His forthcoming book, The Birth of Theocracy out of Catastrophe reconstructs models of theocracy in the Hebrew Bible.