Chapter 2
- 1. Chapter 2: Levinas’s Quest for Justice Of Faith and the “possibility of education” Denise Egea-Kuehne EDS3216 Dilemma 5 Giannella Mifsud Jessica Agius
- 2. Loss of Axiological Markers and Religious Revival According to Levinas, these three religious cultures Christians, Jews, and Muslims have always focused on their own specific “Truths” (pg. 27). The needs for ethics started to be based on these such “Truths” (pg. 27). Levinas considered the Bible and the Talmud to be the roots of his thoughts. Through his work, he was often considered to be the “philosopher of ethics” (pg. 27).
- 3. For Levinas, “the face signifies Infinity” (pg. 27) which means that the face is not an object but as an existence. His thoughts about these philosophical concepts emerged from the reading of the Bible, something which he considered as very important. He based “the foundations of his reflection about the Other” (pg. 27).
- 4. Levinas’s Ethics and his Quest for Justice He saw “‘the face of the other’ as a first relation to ethics” because he considered face-to-face encounters as seeing beyond all knowledge (pg. 29). Levinas gives more importance to the existence of the Other than one’s own. For him this is ethics. He came up with two meanings of “conscience” – “moral conscience and consciousness in the sense of awareness” (pg. 30).
- 5. According to Levinas, to be responsible for the Other is something which we cannot avoid. “Levinas shows how consciousness and moral conscience are developed through the face-to-face encounter with the other, through an interpersonal relationship, through the responsibility and the respect one must develop for the Other as other” (pg. 31).
- 6. Violence of Being and Responsibility Levinas claims that we have to be responsible for the Other in any situation without expecting something in return. In fact, Levinas used to cite Dostoyevsky when he says “We are all responsible for everything and for everyone before everyone, but I more than any other”(pg. 31). Due to the fact that we are responsible for the responsibility of the Other, we ourselves always have another responsibility than all the others.
- 7. Hence, a problem is created. If we just exist, one starts asking: “Am I taking someone else’s place in this world?”(pg. 31). For Levinas, this is his main theme. He also argues that “Just by “being there” may also mean that we are occupying someone else’s place in this world” (pg. 32).
- 8. Levinas explores Levels of Disruption Level 1 - Movement towards justice: • We as human beings must be aware of the Others and try to bring the Others before us. Levinas calls this “proximity” or “discourse” (pg. 33). Level 2 - Third parties: • This level is based on a face-to-face interaction with one Other. • Moreover, in the real world there exists more than two individuals and hence, there will always be a third party.
- 9. • Levinas also said that if in the world, there existed only him and the Others, it would not be such a big problem but in our real world, there are many Others and here comes the problem. As Levinas says, each being is unique and hence this brings with it more challenges. Here, the third parties come in and with them come also various questions such as: “In this plurality, which one comes before the other in my responsibility?” (pg. 33). • This questions raises thinking when it comes to justice. In fact, Levinas emphasizes that we cannot make “‘a comparison of incomparables’” (Levinas 1999, 142) (pg. 33).
- 10. • Another issue which is raised is that “‘I am another for the others’” (Levinas 1981, 158) (pg. 34) as well. • This means that just like the others are considered as Others for the I, I can be considered as one Other to others.
- 11. Levinas and the “Possibility” of Education In Levinas’s model of ethics and justice, he emphasizes “that responsibility to the Other implies responsibility to all others, which for him leads to responsibility for social justice” (pg. 35). Levinas connects this concept of ethics, justice and the face-to-face interaction with the Other with education. He can help and encourage educators understand that every child has the “right-to- be” (pg. 35). Hence, “we can bring to education this ‘idea of a possiblity’” (pg. 35).
- 12. The author also mentions the idea of Derrida: “‘to-come’ to justice and education” (pg. 35). This means that by this way we will be making a promise and these require faith. Eventually the hope leads us and creates in us respect for the Others, without violence.