Rethinking the Conditions for Inter-cultural Interaction: A Commentary on Levinas' Humanism of the Other

Title

Rethinking the Conditions for Inter-cultural Interaction: A Commentary on Levinas' Humanism of the Other

Author

Ernst WOLFF

Page

113-147

DOI

Abstract

Although "humanism" is not one of the important terms in Levinas' philosophy, it hardly surprised that he entitled one of his collections of essays Humanism of the other human being. In this paper, I shall examine the perspective on humanism offered by Levinas in this book, as well as the perspective on the "self" and the "other" that it entails. In the first section this book will be set in the context of the early development of Levinas' philosophy. He refers the tension between the self and the other back to a questioning of the ontology of meaning. In the second section, Levinas' defense of a trans-cultural ethicity will be expounded. This he developed in full recognition of contemporary anti-humanism. Levinas' humanism could be considered as anti-humanist in as far as it remains highly suspicious of situating the origin of ethical conduct in the autonomous self, and ascribes to a high degree of cultural relativism; but he is humanist in the sense that he places the other human being at the very center of all reflection on meaning and action. In conclusion, the cultural specifics of Levinas' own argument are considered and interpreted in the light of the trans-cultural notion of ethicity that he defends.

Keyword

Emmanuel Levinas, intercultural interaction, self, other, Humanism of the other, humanism, anti-humanism, culture, identity

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