(University of the Free State, 2008) Van der Merwe, Willie; De Voss, Vida
English: Emmanuel Levinas’s ethics is based on the Other/other. He argues that we are in
an asymmetrical relationship with our neighbour that pre-destines us to ethical
responsibility even before consciousness or choice. In the face-to-face encounter an
infinity and alterity about our neighbour is revealed, which is irreducible to our
ontological grasp, and thereby compels us to respond to him. It is also through this
relation that our humanity is released as our solipsistic “all-for-myself” becomes a
“being-for-the-other”. Furthermore, the “I” is irreplaceable, thereby making each
of us ethically responsible for our neighbour, even to the point of responsibility for
his material misery. This paper introduces and, in the main, supports this idea of
Levinas’s.