What is the main idea of Levinas?

Levinas’ theory of responsibility is an ontological or fundamental ethics in that it asserts how things are rather than how they should be. The most positive aspect of the theory is the conception of subjectivity that emerges from this critique and the argument for the possibility of transcendence it entails.

What did Emmanuel Levinas say?

The face-to-face relation (French: rapport de face à face) is a concept in the French philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas’ thought on human sociality. It means that, ethically, people are responsible to one-another in the face-to-face encounter. Specifically, Lévinas says that the human face “orders and ordains” us.

What did Levinas say about the other?

Levinas denies that. He is extremely radical. According to him the relation between self and other remains asymmetrical: the self remains more responsible for the other than vice versa, the self surrenders itself without calculation and without demanding or even expecting anything in return.

What is Levinas view of human being *?

Human fraternity is itself, for Levinas, responsibility for the other (Otherwise 116). This is what be- ing human means, it means being responsible without any ontology or essence that would ground this responsibility. Thus, one need know nothing, learn nothing, and remember nothing in order to be human.

What does Levinas call the study of the self?

For Levinas, the Other is not knowable and cannot be made into an object of the self, as is done by traditional metaphysics (which Levinas called “ontology”).

Was Levinas a Phenomenologist?

The Heideggerian reading of Husserl in The Theory of Intuition came to dominate the French appropriation of phenomenology and established Levinas as one of the foremost exponents of phenomenology.

Does Levinas believe in God?

Levinas has the notions of God as the infinite, unknowable, unsayable and unsignifiable. God is the Unknown and the Absolute Other. He is Otherwise than being. For him, there should be no attempt to thematize God because of His transcendence.

What does Levinas mean by Infinity?

Levinas says that the idea of infinity is not a representation of infinity. 1. Infinity overflows the idea of infinity. The idea of infinity is an overflowing of finite thought by infinite content. Infinity is produced by the overflowing of the intellect.

Is Levinas An Existentialist?

Emmanuel Levinas (/ˈlɛvɪnæs/; French: [ɛmanɥɛl levinas]; 12 January 1906 – 25 December 1995) was a French philosopher of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry who is known for his work within Jewish philosophy, existentialism, and phenomenology, focusing on the relationship of ethics to metaphysics and ontology.

When did Levinas write Totality and Infinity?

1961
Totality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority (French: Totalité et Infini: essai sur l’extériorité) is a 1961 book about ethics by the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas. Highly influenced by phenomenology, it is considered one of Levinas’s most important works.