What do you think?
Rate this book
Emmanuel Levinas: Basic Philosophical Writings
English (translation)
Original French
Original French
201 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
17 people are currently reading
629 people want to read
About the author
Emmanuel Levinas
149 books407 followersEmanuelis Levinas (later adapted to French orthography as Emmanuel Levinas) received a traditional Jewish education in Lithuania. After WWII, he studied the Talmud under the enigmatic "Monsieur Chouchani", whose influence he acknowledged only late in his life.
Levinas began his philosophical studies at Strasbourg University in 1924, where he began his lifelong friendship with the French philosopher Maurice Blanchot. In 1928, he went to Freiburg University to study phenomenology under Edmund Husserl. At Freiburg he also met Martin Heidegger. Levinas became one of the very first French intellectuals to draw attention to Heidegger and Husserl, by translating Husserl's Cartesian Meditations and by drawing on their ideas in his own philosophy, in works such as his The Theory of Intuition in Husserl’s Phenomenology, De l'Existence à l'Existant, and En Découvrant l’Existence avec Husserl et Heidegger.
According to his obituary in New York Times,[1] Levinas came to regret his enthusiasm for Heidegger, because of the latter's affinity for the Nazis. During a lecture on forgiveness, Levinas stated "One can forgive many Germans, but there are some Germans it is difficult to forgive. It is difficult to forgive Heidegger."[2]
After earning his doctorate Levinas taught at a private Jewish High School in Paris, the École Normale Israélite Orientale, eventually becoming its director. He began teaching at the University of Poitiers in 1961, at the Nanterre campus of the University of Paris in 1967, and at the Sorbonne in 1973, from which he retired in 1979. He was also a Professor at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. In 1989 he was awarded the Balzan Prize for Philosophy.
Among his most famous students is Rabbi Baruch Garzon from Tetouan (Morocco), who learnt Philosophy with Levinas at the Sorbonne and later went on to become one of the most important Rabbis of the Spanish-speaking world.
In the 1950s, Levinas emerged from the circle of intellectuals surrounding Jean Wahl as a leading French thinker. His work is based on the ethics of the Other or, in Levinas' terms, on "ethics as first philosophy". For Levinas, the Other is not knowable and cannot be made into an object of the self, as is done by traditional metaphysics (which Lévinas called "ontology"). Lévinas prefers to think of philosophy as the "wisdom of love" rather than the love of wisdom (the literal Greek meaning of the word "philosophy"). By his lights, ethics becomes an entity independent of subjectivity to the point where ethical responsibility is integral to the subject; hence an ethics of responsibility precedes any "objective searching after truth".
Levinas derives the primacy of his ethics from the experience of the encounter with the Other. For Levinas, the irreducible relation, the epiphany, of the face-to-face, the encounter with another, is a privileged phenomenon in which the other person's proximity and distance are both strongly felt. "The Other precisely reveals himself in his alterity not in a shock negating the I, but as the primordial phenomenon of gentleness."[3]. At the same time, the revelation of the face makes a demand, this demand is before one can express, or know one's freedom, to affirm or deny.[4] One instantly recognizes the transcendence and heteronomy of the Other. Even murder fails as an attempt to take hold of this otherness.
In Levinas's later thought following "Totality and Infinity", he argued that our responsibility for the other was already rooted within our subjective constitution. It should be noted that the first line of the preface of this book is "everyone will readily agree that it is of the highest importance to know whether we are not duped by morality."[5] This can be seen most clearly in his later account of recurrence (chapter 4 in "Otherwise Than Being"), where Levinas maintai
Levinas began his philosophical studies at Strasbourg University in 1924, where he began his lifelong friendship with the French philosopher Maurice Blanchot. In 1928, he went to Freiburg University to study phenomenology under Edmund Husserl. At Freiburg he also met Martin Heidegger. Levinas became one of the very first French intellectuals to draw attention to Heidegger and Husserl, by translating Husserl's Cartesian Meditations and by drawing on their ideas in his own philosophy, in works such as his The Theory of Intuition in Husserl’s Phenomenology, De l'Existence à l'Existant, and En Découvrant l’Existence avec Husserl et Heidegger.
According to his obituary in New York Times,[1] Levinas came to regret his enthusiasm for Heidegger, because of the latter's affinity for the Nazis. During a lecture on forgiveness, Levinas stated "One can forgive many Germans, but there are some Germans it is difficult to forgive. It is difficult to forgive Heidegger."[2]
After earning his doctorate Levinas taught at a private Jewish High School in Paris, the École Normale Israélite Orientale, eventually becoming its director. He began teaching at the University of Poitiers in 1961, at the Nanterre campus of the University of Paris in 1967, and at the Sorbonne in 1973, from which he retired in 1979. He was also a Professor at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. In 1989 he was awarded the Balzan Prize for Philosophy.
Among his most famous students is Rabbi Baruch Garzon from Tetouan (Morocco), who learnt Philosophy with Levinas at the Sorbonne and later went on to become one of the most important Rabbis of the Spanish-speaking world.
In the 1950s, Levinas emerged from the circle of intellectuals surrounding Jean Wahl as a leading French thinker. His work is based on the ethics of the Other or, in Levinas' terms, on "ethics as first philosophy". For Levinas, the Other is not knowable and cannot be made into an object of the self, as is done by traditional metaphysics (which Lévinas called "ontology"). Lévinas prefers to think of philosophy as the "wisdom of love" rather than the love of wisdom (the literal Greek meaning of the word "philosophy"). By his lights, ethics becomes an entity independent of subjectivity to the point where ethical responsibility is integral to the subject; hence an ethics of responsibility precedes any "objective searching after truth".
Levinas derives the primacy of his ethics from the experience of the encounter with the Other. For Levinas, the irreducible relation, the epiphany, of the face-to-face, the encounter with another, is a privileged phenomenon in which the other person's proximity and distance are both strongly felt. "The Other precisely reveals himself in his alterity not in a shock negating the I, but as the primordial phenomenon of gentleness."[3]. At the same time, the revelation of the face makes a demand, this demand is before one can express, or know one's freedom, to affirm or deny.[4] One instantly recognizes the transcendence and heteronomy of the Other. Even murder fails as an attempt to take hold of this otherness.
In Levinas's later thought following "Totality and Infinity", he argued that our responsibility for the other was already rooted within our subjective constitution. It should be noted that the first line of the preface of this book is "everyone will readily agree that it is of the highest importance to know whether we are not duped by morality."[5] This can be seen most clearly in his later account of recurrence (chapter 4 in "Otherwise Than Being"), where Levinas maintai
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 31, 2008
This book gave me mind bending hell in undergrad; yet, it remains in my mind as the book that taught me everything I know about disection of all forms and genres of media, i.e. in terms of searching for purpose and psychological meaning behind EVERYTHING that is written and performed.
After 3 pages of this book, your mind will say "ouch!"...but you become addicted to that pain and you just continue!
After 3 pages of this book, your mind will say "ouch!"...but you become addicted to that pain and you just continue!
February 25, 2023
We are just an image on the other side... Robert Bernasconi said he did a great job...
The main basis of Levinas' philosophy; It is based on the contradictions that philosophy and ethics, which should be on the same plane, have fallen into in the age of modernism and the contradictions they have opposed each other. Since modernism has come to life as capitalist globalization / industrialization in the world conjuncture, the state of conflict that arises between society and the person is directed from human to society, from society to human, from human to human and from human to self, and creates a problem of unethicality. In the world where we live in the post-modernist order today, at a time when the modernism movement has begun to spread, it is trying to overcome the ethics that are deteriorated by the mask acquired by the system through terms such as "tolerance" and "tolerance". At this point, Levinas establishes his entire philosophical foundation. This approach, which gives rise to alienation, has become the greatest dilemma of humanity today. At this point, Levinas makes a philosophical defense of ethics destroyed with the help of pragmatist reason, adding the destroyed tradition alongside this alienation. With its difference-centered ethical approach, it sees differences as a way to solve social problems by arguing that everyone is responsible for third parties as well as responsible for the other person. Levinas, with his theory of ethics and his interpretation of the place of the other in difference, defends the unqualitativeness and advocates a return to the primitive. Growing up in a conservative environment, this situation directly permeated Levinas' world of thought and he displayed an essentialist attitude in terms of ethics and values. Of course, when talking about Levinas, it is impossible not to mention Edmund Husserl Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger. In essence, Levinas was nourished by these two thinkers. While Husserl's phenomenology and Heidegger's philosophy were the main sources, the Talmud, the book of the Jews, was the second source of Levinas. At this point, I am criticizing him, but let me continue the book analysis without leaving the subject. Levinas derived from Husserl and Heidegger the concept of the "philosophy of the other" and formed the essence of the new ethical philosophy. Just as the effect we call face-to-face philosophy came from here, the face of the other was a reflection of ethics and value understanding in Levinas' philosophy. The basic paradigm on which Levinas readings should be based should be to fully grasp the meanings of the terms other/stranger/other. Likewise, Levinas' secret lies here. Because we will see our own image on the face of the other. However, the real question to be asked is this; Won't the asymmetry that will be experienced when confronted with the other create an "I" in me? Levinas actually put many philosophical problems in a predicament with this initiative. Levinas's philosophy, which caused the emergence of quite a lot of ontological problems, was anti-modernist and at the same time in the line of system improvement was another problematic in Europe. The Levinas readings are 21st at this point. The century will be the tipping point of the philosophical movement, but the 21st century. It is quite strange that when the first quarter of the century was about to end, anti-Levinas views did not emerge. Again, we turn around and remember Nietzsche's objections... These readings are valuable. This should be a springboard for humanity... It is my advice to the person concerned.
The main basis of Levinas' philosophy; It is based on the contradictions that philosophy and ethics, which should be on the same plane, have fallen into in the age of modernism and the contradictions they have opposed each other. Since modernism has come to life as capitalist globalization / industrialization in the world conjuncture, the state of conflict that arises between society and the person is directed from human to society, from society to human, from human to human and from human to self, and creates a problem of unethicality. In the world where we live in the post-modernist order today, at a time when the modernism movement has begun to spread, it is trying to overcome the ethics that are deteriorated by the mask acquired by the system through terms such as "tolerance" and "tolerance". At this point, Levinas establishes his entire philosophical foundation. This approach, which gives rise to alienation, has become the greatest dilemma of humanity today. At this point, Levinas makes a philosophical defense of ethics destroyed with the help of pragmatist reason, adding the destroyed tradition alongside this alienation. With its difference-centered ethical approach, it sees differences as a way to solve social problems by arguing that everyone is responsible for third parties as well as responsible for the other person. Levinas, with his theory of ethics and his interpretation of the place of the other in difference, defends the unqualitativeness and advocates a return to the primitive. Growing up in a conservative environment, this situation directly permeated Levinas' world of thought and he displayed an essentialist attitude in terms of ethics and values. Of course, when talking about Levinas, it is impossible not to mention Edmund Husserl Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger. In essence, Levinas was nourished by these two thinkers. While Husserl's phenomenology and Heidegger's philosophy were the main sources, the Talmud, the book of the Jews, was the second source of Levinas. At this point, I am criticizing him, but let me continue the book analysis without leaving the subject. Levinas derived from Husserl and Heidegger the concept of the "philosophy of the other" and formed the essence of the new ethical philosophy. Just as the effect we call face-to-face philosophy came from here, the face of the other was a reflection of ethics and value understanding in Levinas' philosophy. The basic paradigm on which Levinas readings should be based should be to fully grasp the meanings of the terms other/stranger/other. Likewise, Levinas' secret lies here. Because we will see our own image on the face of the other. However, the real question to be asked is this; Won't the asymmetry that will be experienced when confronted with the other create an "I" in me? Levinas actually put many philosophical problems in a predicament with this initiative. Levinas's philosophy, which caused the emergence of quite a lot of ontological problems, was anti-modernist and at the same time in the line of system improvement was another problematic in Europe. The Levinas readings are 21st at this point. The century will be the tipping point of the philosophical movement, but the 21st century. It is quite strange that when the first quarter of the century was about to end, anti-Levinas views did not emerge. Again, we turn around and remember Nietzsche's objections... These readings are valuable. This should be a springboard for humanity... It is my advice to the person concerned.
December 18, 2014
A key text for understanding Levinas' thought and its growth. Great for newcomers to Levinas or for old hats grasping for more, this text is a must read for a reader and thinker of post-metaphysical thought.
March 2, 2014
Let's face it, it's a great read. #dadjokes
October 16, 2012
Not an easy read by any stretch of the imagination--Levinas wrote some of the most exacting and tortuous prose out there. Thankfully the editors (I'm a fan of Simon Critchley in particular) are there to help hone the view for us philistines, who might not be absolutely current on Levinas' use of specific terms. An edifying and engaging work, one that introduces the basics to a profound thinker whose influence on philosophy and literature will likely continue to grow.
October 13, 2008
One of my favorite books of all time. I have nothing to say but read it and don't confuse Levinas's definitions with those of ofther philosophers. An understanding of Levinas, his life, and his meanings are essential to understanding what he speaks and writes of.
So very poetic.
So very poetic.
April 6, 2017
Great little compilation of Levinas essays. I found this text to be more helpful as a supplement to some of his more major works and his period thinking, rather than as an intro his work. There are quite a few gems here: Enigma and Phenomenon, Meaning and Sense, Substitution, God and Philosophy, and so on - are all great reads.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews