Original scientific paper

The Ethics of the Other in Emmanuel Lévinas

Josip Oslić ; Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract

In this paper the author draws attention to Emmanuel Lévinas' (1906-1995) ethical position which, in relation tο classical ethical schemes (Plato, Aristotle, Kant), establishes an ethical Other, thereby demonstrating a specific similarity with Christian ethics wherein the central motive and imperative are dominated by love for God and one's neighbour. In order to understand the Other in his/her entirety, it is necessary to determine him/her conceptually. In Lévinas' ethics, the Other emerges as the face, the collocutor and transcendence. The Other is not reducible to the impersonal »es gibt« (Heidegger), but is a person possessing his/her own dignity. The Other develops and grows in freedom, but also in the communicative »Thou-I« (M. Buber). The ethical resistance that emerges in Lévinas attempts to overcome every form of violence, anxiety, death and nothingness, as well as highlight the value of the Other, who is given to me as a gift. The gift of the Other should likewise evoke in me the giving of self to the Other. While Kantian ethics is grounded on the principle of duty, Lévinasian ethics is based on the principle of responsibility for the Other. The concrete shape of Lévinas' principle of responsibility for the Other is characterised by the concepts proximity, service and justice. The Other discloses himself/herself not only in his/her proximity, but also in language as the horizon of the Other's self-disclosedness. Not only do we confront the Other in his/her alterity through language, but also in his/her interior life. In language we not only recognise the Other as one's neighbour, but also the idea of the infinite itself. The idea of the infinite is revealed in language by way of mystery and man, hearing that mystery, remains only the hearer of the revealed word.

Keywords

Hrčak ID:

29149

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/29149

Publication date:

12.12.2001.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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