Emmanuel Levinas: Hermeneutics, Ethics, and Art

Abstract

This article draws attention to the subject of art in Levinas’s thinking through consideration of his philosophical language, which is aided by images, metaphors, and idioms of art. The primary image that will accompany our discussion throughout this article is the image of art as shadow, which Levinas incorporates into the title of the essay which he devotes to the subject of art: “Reality and Its Shadow”. Thinking about art from the perspective of Levinas means thinking about image and essence, about which is visible before us and which we cannot see, and about the different ways in which art can express itself. Levinas’s theory of interpretation is grounded in and guided by the field of ethics and addresses the ethical aspects of interpretation. Levinas approaches the discourse of interpretation not out of naivete but rather based on a deep understanding of the field of hermeneutics, with all its shortcomings and challenges. Thinking of hermeneutics from an ethical perspective is no mere addition to the discussion but the very crux of the matter. An attempt to understand interpretation as an act of exposing the truth encounters serious philosophical and logical difficulties, whether we are seeking to discover the intention of the artist, the intent of a specific work of art, or a hidden form within the work itself. The engagement with Levinas’s theory of hermeneutics, however, raises a different question which is the focus of this article: Can Levinas’s theory of interpretation be applied to the realm of artistic creation, and if so, how? This question is sharpened by the difficulties that Levinas himself poses to his readers by designating art as the “shadow” of reality and drawing attention to the egoistic dimension of the artistic act.