Lévinas

Author: (English) Colin Davis
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-11-01
Features: The nearness of death indicates that we are in a relationship with something absolutely other, something that is not regarded as a temporary regulation of alterity that we can absorb through enjoyment, but rather as something whose existence is actually constituted by alterity. Therefore, death does not confirm my solitude but breaks it. In enjoyment, I am completely myself. As a selfist uninvolved with the other, I am alone but not solitary—a pure selfism and solitude. The face, as the face, reveals the essence of humanity. The naked face, as the face, shows me the poverty of the poor and the stranger; but this poverty and exile that claim my power and speak to me do not necessarily surrender themselves to these powers; they remain the expression of the face. The poor (the stranger) presents himself as an equal. The equality of his essential poverty lies in mentioning the "third party" that appears in the encounter, for the other has long been serving this third party in poverty. The postmodern mind realizes that some issues in human and social life have no good solutions, that twisted tracks cannot be straightened, and that contradictions are not merely linguistic errors to be corrected. Doubt cannot be driven away from existence, and no rational remedy can soothe (let alone heal) the suffering of morality. The postmodern mind no longer expects to find a comprehensive, total, and ultimate life formula—one free of ambiguity, risk, danger, and error—but also deeply doubts any such promise. The postmodern mind accepts the view that humans can only live in this world's terrible predicament.