Emmanuel Levinas' Theory of Commitment

Abstract

As is well known, French philosophy has long since moved away from the emphasis on phenomenology and existentialism represented by the writings of Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Jean-Paul Sartre. There remains, however, at least one important figure whose concerns, though ultimately distinct from those of the existentialists, continue to draw upon the same philosophical sources. Emmanuel Levinas, through a large number of publications dating back to the I930's, has established himself as one of the leading contemporary thinkers influenced by Edmund Husserl and the existential movement, particularly the thought of Martin Heidegger. He was not only the author of the first important French analysis of Husserl's thought (The'orie de l'intuition dans la phe'nome'nologie de Husserl, I930; English translation, I973) but the impact of Husserl is still evident in his latest, large philosophical work, Autrement qu'e'tre ou au-dela' de l'essence (Other Than Being or Beyond Essence) (The Hague, Martinus Nijhoff, I974; English translation, I 9 8 I). Levinas has also developed a reputation as an interpreter of Talmudic thought. In i963 a first collection of lectures on the Talmud appeared under the title Difficile liberty (Paris: Albin Michel), to be followed in i968 by Quatre lectures talmudiques and, in I977, Du sacre' au saint, Cinq nouvelles lectures talmudiques. Levinas' philosophical writings share with his religious thought a concern for interpersonal relations; more specifically, they represent an attempt to analyze the fundamental meaning of intersubjectivity, interpreted as the self's relation to autrui, the or other persons. These efforts culminated in what is to date his best known philosophical work, Totalite' et infini (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, i968, English translation, I969).