Levinas, substitution and transcendental subjectivity
Tóm tắt
The task of this paper is to clarify the status and implications of Levinas's insistence on the necessity of subjectivity to the ethical relation. Focusing in particular on the discussion of substitution in Otherwise than Being, it is argued that the description of subjectivity as substitution enables Levinas to articulate the necessity of the subject to the approach of the other in a manner which avoids the transcendental character which such claims to necessity usually embody. This argument proceeds from an initial characterization of substitution within the constellation of themes pursued by Levinas in Otherwise than Being to a detailed examination of the first four sections of the “Substitution” chapter. The essay concludes by noting the unity of the ethical exceeding of the transcendental character of subjectivity with the project which animates Levinas's work from its beginnings: the exceeding of the ontological by the ethical.
Tài liệu tham khảo
Jacques Derrida “Violence et métaphysique. Essai sur la pensée d'Emmanuel Levinas,” (VeM) in L'écriture et la difference (Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1967); “Violence and Metaphysics: An Essay on the Thought of Emmanuel Levinas,” (VaM) in Writing and Difference, trans. A. Bass, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978) pp. 79–153.
Emmanuel Levinas Autrement qu'être ou au-delà de l'essence (AQ), (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1991); Otherwise than Being or Beyond Essence, (OB) trans.A. Lingis (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1991).
”Enigme et phénomèna” (EP) in En découvrant l'existence avec Husserl et Heidegger 4th ed., pp. 203–216; “Phenomenon and Enigma” (PE) in Collected Philosophical Papers, trans. A. Lingis (Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1987), pp. 61–73.
De l'existence à l'existant (DEE), (Paris: Vrin, 1986); Existence and Existents (EE), trans. A. Lingis (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1978).
”Langage et proximité” (LeP) in En découvrant l'existence avec Husserl et Heidegger 4th ed., (Paris: Vrin, 1988) pp. 217–236; “Language and Proximity” (LaP) in Collected Philosophical Papers, pp. 109–126.
Le temps et l'autre (TA), (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1989); Time and the Other, (TO) trans. R.A. Cohen (Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press, 1987).
Totalité et Infini (TeI), (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1984); Totality and Infinity (TaI) trans. A Lingis (Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press, 1969).