The Created Ego in Levinas’ Totality and Infinity
There are two seemingly opposed descriptions of the subject in Totality and Infinity: the separate and autonomous I and the self that is ready to respond to the Other’s suffering and need. This paper points out that there is in fact another way Levinas speaks of the subject, which reinforces and rec...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Springer Netherlands
2011
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| In: |
Sophia
Year: 2011, Volume: 50, Issue: 4, Pages: 677-692 |
| Further subjects: | B
Subjectivity
B Levinas B Autonomy B Responsibility B Creaturehood B The Other |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | There are two seemingly opposed descriptions of the subject in Totality and Infinity: the separate and autonomous I and the self that is ready to respond to the Other’s suffering and need. This paper points out that there is in fact another way Levinas speaks of the subject, which reinforces and reconciles the other two accounts. Throughout his first major work, Levinas explains how the ego is allowed to emerge as such by the Other who constantly confronts it. At certain points in that work Levinas comes to describe the self as a creature given to itself by another. The notion of the created ego allows for both freedom and responsibility as Levinas understands the creature as capable of thinking critically, becoming an independent individual, and turning to the Other in responsibility. |
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| ISSN: | 1873-930X |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Sophia
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1007/s11841-011-0263-3 |