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Apie Dievą, ateinantį į mąstymą
Straipsnių rinkinys, kuris pirmą kartą pasirodė 1982 m. Tai skirtingu metu ir įvairiomis progomis rašyti straipsniai, atrodo, parinkti ir sujungti kelių Levino filosofijai esminių temų pagrindu.
„Tikroji, nepaneigiama vertė (...) tai šventumo vertė. Šventumas priklauso anaiptol ne nuo netekčių, jis glūdi įsitikinime, kad visur kitam reikia užleisti pirmą vietą pradedant fraze „aš tik po jūsų", sakoma prie atvertų durų, baigiant kone neįmanomu (tačiau Šventumas to reikalauja) pasirengimu mirti už kitą, (...) Jei norite, situacija, kai Dievas ateina į mąstymą, anaiptol nėra nei stebuklas, nei noras suprasti kūrimo paslaptį. Argi sukūrimo idėja yra pirmoji? Dieviškumo sukeliamas smūgis, imanentinės sąrangos, kurią galiu aprėpti, kurią galiu gauti iš savo mąstymo ir kuri gali tapti manoji, pertrūkis - tai kito asmens veidas"
Levinas E. in: Poiriė F. Emmūnuel Levinas (Qui etes-vous?)
„Tikroji, nepaneigiama vertė (...) tai šventumo vertė. Šventumas priklauso anaiptol ne nuo netekčių, jis glūdi įsitikinime, kad visur kitam reikia užleisti pirmą vietą pradedant fraze „aš tik po jūsų", sakoma prie atvertų durų, baigiant kone neįmanomu (tačiau Šventumas to reikalauja) pasirengimu mirti už kitą, (...) Jei norite, situacija, kai Dievas ateina į mąstymą, anaiptol nėra nei stebuklas, nei noras suprasti kūrimo paslaptį. Argi sukūrimo idėja yra pirmoji? Dieviškumo sukeliamas smūgis, imanentinės sąrangos, kurią galiu aprėpti, kurią galiu gauti iš savo mąstymo ir kuri gali tapti manoji, pertrūkis - tai kito asmens veidas"
Levinas E. in: Poiriė F. Emmūnuel Levinas (Qui etes-vous?)
358 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
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About the author
Emmanuel Levinas
148 books402 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
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 26, 2015
I love these collections of Levinas' writings. He had his primary texts, Totality and Infinity and later Otherwise than Being, and then around these circled his many essays. They all come back to his ethical mode of thinking of the other, but in their circling motion they take in other themes as well.
From this collection, "God and Philosophy" was very insightful towards Levinas' thinking. I also found that "Transcendence and Evil" contained some great thoughts on the idea of evil, beyond the simple duality of the classic 'problem of evil.'
From this collection, "God and Philosophy" was very insightful towards Levinas' thinking. I also found that "Transcendence and Evil" contained some great thoughts on the idea of evil, beyond the simple duality of the classic 'problem of evil.'
March 17, 2018
Levinas asks if there is a possibility of a meaningful God as a part of establishing a search for truth. The text is very bound in itself and still intermediates with the reader, which is fascinating. The book could in general be seen as a radicalization of Descartes' idea of the Infinite in the Finite as it asks what conditions this possibility, which will be suggested to be the fear for the other. Transcendence and the possibility of truth is made possible through responsiveness/responsibility. The question "Does God exist?" will be shown to be overshadowed and determined by the inevitable question "Why suffering rather than something better?".
There is a lot of cross-referencing to both philosophical and theological works that requires some extra reading of the reader. Some things that appears and I suggested to be read before that makes it easier to read and understand the arguments are Otherwise than Being, maybe an overview of phenomenology or such to understand how Levinas enters dialogue with Husserl and the other guys, some Heidegger - at least to get an overview of the notions there and the massive critique executed by Levinas, some insight of "Old Testament" to get the theological connotation, some Cartesian meditations to see the limit of thinking, some Augustinus to get a sense of how Levinas discusses truth and time, some overview of Hegel to understand why Levinas suggests that Hegel is implying a violent ideology, some Nietzsche to get how Levinas try to push philosophy beyond humanism/anti-humanism and moralism/anti-moralism, some Plato and Aristoteles to understand what Levinas thinks has gone wrong in philosophizing about language, some Weil to grasp what Levinas is aiming at with "waiting" and "passing time".
With that said, the book might present itself and its argumentation without having read the mentioned. This is why the book is greater than its content.
There is a lot of cross-referencing to both philosophical and theological works that requires some extra reading of the reader. Some things that appears and I suggested to be read before that makes it easier to read and understand the arguments are Otherwise than Being, maybe an overview of phenomenology or such to understand how Levinas enters dialogue with Husserl and the other guys, some Heidegger - at least to get an overview of the notions there and the massive critique executed by Levinas, some insight of "Old Testament" to get the theological connotation, some Cartesian meditations to see the limit of thinking, some Augustinus to get a sense of how Levinas discusses truth and time, some overview of Hegel to understand why Levinas suggests that Hegel is implying a violent ideology, some Nietzsche to get how Levinas try to push philosophy beyond humanism/anti-humanism and moralism/anti-moralism, some Plato and Aristoteles to understand what Levinas thinks has gone wrong in philosophizing about language, some Weil to grasp what Levinas is aiming at with "waiting" and "passing time".
With that said, the book might present itself and its argumentation without having read the mentioned. This is why the book is greater than its content.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 26, 2018
This collection is a cogent explication of Levinas’ theological position all the while framing it within the context of his larger phenomenology. If you come into his works attempting to “master” them or “understand” everything, you will be doomed. Levinas’ thought is not so much a content as it is a relation. A connaitre as opposed to a savoir.
I began with this volume before I undertook Totality and Infinity and then Otherwise Than Being because I have always had an innate aversion to theological thinking or justifications. Therefore, I approached this work as a way to conceptualize the infinite phenomenologically. Whether or not Levinas would be okay with one divesting his philosophy of the theological implications is a worthwhile thought, but for me it is essential to evaluating the whole. For a philosophy faith should not be the glue that binds it, though it may be a motivating force.
The essay “God and Philosophy” was particularly helpful in this regard. Levinas is, to my understanding, grounding phenomenality within the essential passivity of the infinite which is the foundation of subjectivity. This gets at what my hang-up is with most theological discussions. To me, if there are no implications for our ontological constitution, then metaphysical notions of God are at best superfluous. To me, the question of the existence of God is irrelevant compared to life-as-it-is-lived. What I find exciting about Levinas, however, is how he establishes a horizontal ethics that has no trace of hierarchy even within its conception of a God-head. So much theology establishes a power structure such that its ethics inherently establishes an order of power which becomes reflected in one’s relations with another. Of utmost importance to understanding this though is through the terms: immanence, transcendence, and proximity. It is a grounding of an ethico-ontological system wherein the nearness of the other is affirmed by one’s own transcendence which reciprocally grounds each other in the immanence of the infinite, or God.
I began with this volume before I undertook Totality and Infinity and then Otherwise Than Being because I have always had an innate aversion to theological thinking or justifications. Therefore, I approached this work as a way to conceptualize the infinite phenomenologically. Whether or not Levinas would be okay with one divesting his philosophy of the theological implications is a worthwhile thought, but for me it is essential to evaluating the whole. For a philosophy faith should not be the glue that binds it, though it may be a motivating force.
The essay “God and Philosophy” was particularly helpful in this regard. Levinas is, to my understanding, grounding phenomenality within the essential passivity of the infinite which is the foundation of subjectivity. This gets at what my hang-up is with most theological discussions. To me, if there are no implications for our ontological constitution, then metaphysical notions of God are at best superfluous. To me, the question of the existence of God is irrelevant compared to life-as-it-is-lived. What I find exciting about Levinas, however, is how he establishes a horizontal ethics that has no trace of hierarchy even within its conception of a God-head. So much theology establishes a power structure such that its ethics inherently establishes an order of power which becomes reflected in one’s relations with another. Of utmost importance to understanding this though is through the terms: immanence, transcendence, and proximity. It is a grounding of an ethico-ontological system wherein the nearness of the other is affirmed by one’s own transcendence which reciprocally grounds each other in the immanence of the infinite, or God.
March 10, 2012
Emmanuel Levinas discusses at length and in depth each individual's connection to other people, particularly in 'The Thinking of Being and the Question of the Other'. He posits and intrinsic and symbiotic duty of each person to one another. It takes the concept of responsibility to a revolutionary level. I suspect that some things are lost in translation (it's originally in French) but it is nonetheless extremely thoughtful, extensive and reasoned.
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October 10, 2016I would give it a rating if I understood what he's saying. The idea of elevating religion and individual life to the ethical through means of an interruption by the other is fascinating - but good grief, Levinas. My kingdom for some examples sprinkled throughout your phenomenology.
July 25, 2007
I can recommend "Hermeneutics and Beyond". I have only read selections.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews