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'''Emmanuel Lévinas''' ([[January 12]], [[1906]] - [[December 25]], [[1995]]) was a [[Jew]]ish [[philosopher]] born in [[Kovno]], [[Lithuania]], who moved to [[France]], where he wrote most of his works. In his youth he had received a traditional Jewish education, and in his later years was introduced to the [[Talmud]] by the enigmatic "[[Monsieur Chouchani]]". Levinas became a naturalized French citizen in [[1930]].
Levinas was deeply influenced by [[Edmund Husserl]] & [[Martin Heidegger]], whom he met at the university of [[Freiburg]], as well as by [[Judaism|Jewish religion]]. He was one of the first intellectuals to introduce to France the work of Heidegger and Husserl, producing both translations of their work (e.g., Husserl's ''Cartesian Meditations'') and original philosophical tracts.
==War experiences==
During the German invasion of France in [[1940]], Levinas was reactivated with his military unit, which was quickly surrounded and forced to surrender. Initially sent to a prisoner of war camp in France, he was soon transferred to a camp on German soil near Hannover, where he remained until the end of the war.
Although protected by the [[Third Geneva Convention]] from deportation to a [[concentration camp]], Levinas was segregated in special barracks for Jewish prisoners, who were forbidden any forms of religious worship. Life in the camp was as difficult as might be expected, with Levinas often forced into wood-chopping duties.
Other prisoners report seeing him make frequent jottings in a notebook, which would later be shaped into his breakthrough treatises "De l'Existence à l'Existant," a landmark appreciation and criticism of the philosophy of Heidegger, and "Le Temps et l'Autre" (both 1948).
In the meantime, his wife was shielded from deportation through the efforts of the philosopher [[Maurice Blanchot]] who also risked his own well-being seeing to it that Levinas was able to keep in contact with his immediate family through letters and other messages. Other family members were not so lucky: his mother-in-law was deported and never heard from again, while his father and brothers were murdered in Lithuania by the [[Schutzstaffel|SS]].
==Philosophy==
After the war, Levinas became a leading thinker in France, emerging from the circle of intellectuals surrounding [[Jean Wahl]]. His work is based on the [[ethics]] of [[Other|the Other]] or, in Levinas' terms, he argues "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]] (called ontology by Levinas). Levinas prefers to think of philosophy as the 'knowledge of love' rather than the love of knowledge. In his arrangement, ethics become an entity independent of subjectivity to the point where ethical responsibility is integral to the subject; because of this, 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 [[face-to-face]] encounter with another human being is a privileged phenomenon in which the other person's proximity and distance are both strongly felt. Upon the revelation of the face a person's first natural desire is to murder the Other. At the same time, the revelation of the face forces the immediate recognition of one's inability to do so. One must instantly recognize the inviolability and autonomy of the Other. One must then place him or herself in the position of a student, and the Other is recognized as a teacher. Ultimately, morality is recognized through one's relation to the Other.
Among the many works of Levinas, key texts include ''Totalité et infini: essai sur l'extériorité'' (1961) and ''Autrement qu'être ou au-delà de l'essence'' (1974). Both works have been translated into English by the American philosopher [[Alphonso Lingis]].
In Levinas's later thought following "Totality and Infinity", he argued that our responsiblity 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 [paraphrase] "it is of the utmost importance to know whether or not we are duped by morality." This can be seen most clearly in his later account of recurrence (chapter 4 from "Otherwise Than Being"). Therein Levinas maintained that subjectivity was formed in and through our subjected-ness to the other. In this way, his effort was not to move away from traditional attempts to locate the other within subjectivity (this he agrees with), so much as his view was that subjectivity was primordially ethical and not theoretical. That is to say, our responsibility for-the-other was not a derivative feature of our subjectivity; instead, obligation founds our subjective being-in-the-world by giving it a meaningful direction and orientation. Levinas's thesis "ethics is first philosophy", then, means that the traditional philosophical pursuit of knowledge is but a secondary feature of a more basic ethical duty to-the-other.
==See also==
*[[Other|The Other]]
*The [[Face-to-face]] Relation
*[[Authenticity (philosophy)|Authenticity]]
*[[Golden Rule]]
== External links ==
* [http://www.levinas.co.il Official web site of the Institut d'études lévinassiennes]
* [http://home.pacbell.net/atterton/levinas/ Webpage with details of his life and writings], including his [http://home.pacbell.net/atterton/levinas/Obituary.htm New York Times obituary]
* [http://www.waste.org/~roadrunner/writing/thesis.htm "Viewing Power in Heidegger and Levinas"], [http://www.waste.org/~roadrunner/writing/Levinas/AnarchismOtherPerson_WEB.htm "The Anarchism of the Other Person"], and [http://www.waste.org/~roadrunner/writing/magon/Persons_Die.htm "Persons Die: Ricardo Flores Magon and Emmanuel Levinas"] by Mitchell Cowen Verter
* [http://othervoices.org/2.3/mmichau/index.html On Escape], a review of Levinas' ''De L'êvasion'' by Michael R. Michau, [http://www.othervoices.org Other Voices], January 2005.
* [http://www.levinas100.org/index-en.html A Century with Levinas : Celebration of Emmanuel Levinas Centennial · January 1-December 31, 2006]
* [http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~sjneely/levinas.htm North American Levinas Society: Resources, Calls for Papers, Announcements]
* [http://espacethique.free.fr Espacethique : Emmanuel Levinas and the ethic of responsibility]
[[Category:1906 births|Levinas, Emmanuel]]
[[Category:1995 deaths|Levinas, Emmanuel]]
[[Category:20th century philosophers|Levinas, Emmanuel]]
[[Category:Continental philosophers|Levinas, Emmanuel]]
[[Category:French philosophers|Levinas, Emmanuel]]
[[Category:Phenomenology|Levinas, Emmanuel]]
[[Category:Postmodern theory|Levinas, Emmanuel]]
[[Category:Social philosophy|Levinas, Emmanuel]]
[[Category:People]]
'''Emmanuel Lévinas''' ([[January 12]], [[1906]] - [[December 25]], [[1995]]) was a [[Jew]]ish [[philosopher]] born in [[Kovno]], [[Lithuania]], who moved to [[France]], where he wrote most of his works. In his youth he had received a traditional Jewish education, and in his later years was introduced to the [[Talmud]] by the enigmatic "[[Monsieur Chouchani]]". Levinas became a naturalized French citizen in [[1930]].
Levinas was deeply influenced by [[Edmund Husserl]] & [[Martin Heidegger]], whom he met at the university of [[Freiburg]], as well as by [[Judaism|Jewish religion]]. He was one of the first intellectuals to introduce to France the work of Heidegger and Husserl, producing both translations of their work (e.g., Husserl's ''Cartesian Meditations'') and original philosophical tracts.
==War experiences==
During the German invasion of France in [[1940]], Levinas was reactivated with his military unit, which was quickly surrounded and forced to surrender. Initially sent to a prisoner of war camp in France, he was soon transferred to a camp on German soil near Hannover, where he remained until the end of the war.
Although protected by the [[Third Geneva Convention]] from deportation to a [[concentration camp]], Levinas was segregated in special barracks for Jewish prisoners, who were forbidden any forms of religious worship. Life in the camp was as difficult as might be expected, with Levinas often forced into wood-chopping duties.
Other prisoners report seeing him make frequent jottings in a notebook, which would later be shaped into his breakthrough treatises "De l'Existence à l'Existant," a landmark appreciation and criticism of the philosophy of Heidegger, and "Le Temps et l'Autre" (both 1948).
In the meantime, his wife was shielded from deportation through the efforts of the philosopher [[Maurice Blanchot]] who also risked his own well-being seeing to it that Levinas was able to keep in contact with his immediate family through letters and other messages. Other family members were not so lucky: his mother-in-law was deported and never heard from again, while his father and brothers were murdered in Lithuania by the [[Schutzstaffel|SS]].
==Philosophy==
After the war, Levinas became a leading thinker in France, emerging from the circle of intellectuals surrounding [[Jean Wahl]]. His work is based on the [[ethics]] of [[Other|the Other]] or, in Levinas' terms, he argues "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]] (called ontology by Levinas). Levinas prefers to think of philosophy as the 'knowledge of love' rather than the love of knowledge. In his arrangement, ethics become an entity independent of subjectivity to the point where ethical responsibility is integral to the subject; because of this, 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 [[face-to-face]] encounter with another human being is a privileged phenomenon in which the other person's proximity and distance are both strongly felt. Upon the revelation of the face a person's first natural desire is to murder the Other. At the same time, the revelation of the face forces the immediate recognition of one's inability to do so. One must instantly recognize the inviolability and autonomy of the Other. One must then place him or herself in the position of a student, and the Other is recognized as a teacher. Ultimately, morality is recognized through one's relation to the Other.
Among the many works of Levinas, key texts include ''Totalité et infini: essai sur l'extériorité'' (1961) and ''Autrement qu'être ou au-delà de l'essence'' (1974). Both works have been translated into English by the American philosopher [[Alphonso Lingis]].
In Levinas's later thought following "Totality and Infinity", he argued that our responsiblity 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 [paraphrase] "it is of the utmost importance to know whether or not we are duped by morality." This can be seen most clearly in his later account of recurrence (chapter 4 from "Otherwise Than Being"). Therein Levinas maintained that subjectivity was formed in and through our subjected-ness to the other. In this way, his effort was not to move away from traditional attempts to locate the other within subjectivity (this he agrees with), so much as his view was that subjectivity was primordially ethical and not theoretical. That is to say, our responsibility for-the-other was not a derivative feature of our subjectivity; instead, obligation founds our subjective being-in-the-world by giving it a meaningful direction and orientation. Levinas's thesis "ethics is first philosophy", then, means that the traditional philosophical pursuit of knowledge is but a secondary feature of a more basic ethical duty to-the-other.
==See also==
*[[Other|The Other]]
*The [[Face-to-face]] Relation
*[[Authenticity (philosophy)|Authenticity]]
*[[Golden Rule]]
== External links ==
* [http://www.levinas.co.il Official web site of the Institut d'études lévinassiennes]
* [http://home.pacbell.net/atterton/levinas/ Webpage with details of his life and writings], including his [http://home.pacbell.net/atterton/levinas/Obituary.htm New York Times obituary]
* [http://www.waste.org/~roadrunner/writing/thesis.htm "Viewing Power in Heidegger and Levinas"], [http://www.waste.org/~roadrunner/writing/Levinas/AnarchismOtherPerson_WEB.htm "The Anarchism of the Other Person"], and [http://www.waste.org/~roadrunner/writing/magon/Persons_Die.htm "Persons Die: Ricardo Flores Magon and Emmanuel Levinas"] by Mitchell Cowen Verter
* [http://othervoices.org/2.3/mmichau/index.html On Escape], a review of Levinas' ''De L'êvasion'' by Michael R. Michau, [http://www.othervoices.org Other Voices], January 2005.
* [http://www.levinas100.org/index-en.html A Century with Levinas : Celebration of Emmanuel Levinas Centennial · January 1-December 31, 2006]
* [http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~sjneely/levinas.htm North American Levinas Society: Resources, Calls for Papers, Announcements]
* [http://espacethique.free.fr Espacethique : Emmanuel Levinas and the ethic of responsibility]
[[Category:1906 births|Levinas, Emmanuel]]
[[Category:1995 deaths|Levinas, Emmanuel]]
[[Category:20th century philosophers|Levinas, Emmanuel]]
[[Category:Continental philosophers|Levinas, Emmanuel]]
[[Category:French philosophers|Levinas, Emmanuel]]
[[Category:Phenomenology|Levinas, Emmanuel]]
[[Category:Postmodern theory|Levinas, Emmanuel]]
[[Category:Social philosophy|Levinas, Emmanuel]]
[[Category:People]]
