The intrigue of ethics : a reading of the idea of discourse in the thought of Emmanuel Lévinas

455 Pages·2001·22.929 MB·English

by  Lévinas, Emmanuel, Levinas, Emmanuel, Dudiak, Jeffrey

The Intrigue of Ethics
PERSPECTIVEINS C ONTINENTAPLH ILOSOPHY
John D. Caputo, series editor
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Ju cq u es Derrida .
2. Michael Strawscr, Both/And: Rending Kierkegaard-From Iraq to Ed$-
cation.
3. Michael Barber, Ethicul Hermeneutics: Rntionality in. Enrique Dussel’s
Philosophy of Liberation.
4. James H. Olthuis, ed., Knowing OtherwisPeh:il osoit,h?l ut the Threshold
of S$rituality.
5. James Swindal,R eflection Reuisited:J urgen H[lbermns’s Disctmive Theoly
of Truth.
6. Richard Kearney,P oetics of Inmgining: Modern and Postnrodern. Second
edition.
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tion-Essays on Late Exislentidism.
8. Edith WyschogrodE, mmunrcel Lainas: TheP roblem ofEthicnl Metuphys-
ics. Second edition.
9. Francis J. Ambrosio, ed., TheQ uestion of Christian Philoso/)lry Today.
10. Jeffrey Bloechl, ed., TheF uce of the Other and the Trace of God: Essqs
on the Philosqjllyo f En~munzreLl euinms.
11. Ilse N.B ulhof and Laurens teKna te, eds., Flight of the Gods: Pl~iloso/)h-
icul Perspectives on Negative Theology.
12. Trish Glazebrook,H eidegger‘s Philosophy of Science.
13. Kevin Hart, TheT resptss of the Sign. Second edition.
11. Mat% C. Taylor, Jolrl-nrys to S@hood: Hrgel and Kierkegaclrd. Second
edition.
15. Dominique Janicaud, Jean-Francois Courtine, Jean-Louis ChrCtien,
Michel Henry, Jean-Luc Marion, and Paul Ricoeur, Phenomenology
and the “Theolopcal Turn’’: The French Debate.
16. Karl Jaspers, TheQ uestion of Gernmn Guilt. Introduction by JosepWh .
Koterski, S.J.
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an introduction by ThomAa.s C arlson.
THE INTRIGUE
OF ETHICS
A Reading of the Ideao f Discourse
in the Thought of Emmanuel Leuinas
DUDIAK
JEFFREY
Fordham University Press
New York
2001
Copyright 0 2001 Fordham University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, storedi n a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic,
mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in
printed reviews, withoutt he prior permission of the publisher.
Perspectives in Continental Philosophy, No. 18
ISSN 1089-3938
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dudiak, Jeffrey.
The intrigue of ethics : a reading of the idea of discourse in the
thought of Emmanuel Levinas /Jeffrey Dudiak.
p. cm.-(Perspectives in continental philosophy ; no. 18)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-8232-2092-3 (hardcovel-)--ISBN 0-8232-2093-1 (phk.)
1. LCvinas, Emmanuel-Contributions in philosophy of language and
languages.2 .L anguage and languages-Philosophy-History-20th
century. 3E. thics. I. Title. 11. Series.
B2430.L484D 832 001
194-dc21 00-048468
Printed in the United States of America
002 1 03 04 05 5 4 2 3 1
For Ruth, my mother.
“Love is love in this antecedence.”
CONTENTS
Acknozuledgrnents ix
Pr@ace: Dialogue and Peace xi
PARTI : THEI DEAO F DISCOURSE
1. The Impasse of Dialogue 3
I. Dialogue as Din-logos: The Ontological Model 5
11. Dialogue Problematized 27
2. Original Plurality: The Terms of Discourse 57
I. Allergy and Separation 59
11. The Ethical Transcendence of the Other 62
111. The Separation of the Same as Enjoyment 79
3. Discourse as the Condition of Possibility for Dialogue 109
I. The Relation of Discourse 109
11. Discourse Produces the Logos 118
111. The Economy of the Same and the Logos 128
IV. Discourse Founds Dialogue 140
PART1 1: THEP OSSIBLIEM POSSIBILITY
Inhoduction to Purt 11 167
I. Conditions of Possibility and Impossibility 167
11. From “Discourse” to “The Saying” 169
4. The Two Aspects of Language: TheS aying and theS aid 178
I. Language As the Said 178
11. Language As the Saying 193
5. The Two Directions in Language: The Reductive and
the Re-constructive 224
I. From the Said to the Saying: Reduction 224
11. Intermezzo: Between Movements 230
111. From the Saying to the Said: Re-construction 233
...
Vlll CONTENTS
IV. The Saying in Justice: Inspiration and Betrayal 240
V. Discourse: A Possible Impossibility 247
6. The Moment of Responsibility: Time and Eternity 263
I. From Simultaneity to Postponement 265
11. From Postponement to Recurrence 2 79
111. A Temporaly Conclusion 289
IV. At This Very Moment 29 1
V. The Moment of Responsibility 300
PART1 11: DISCOURSE, PHILOSOPAHNDY P, EACE
7. Levinas’s Philosophical Discourse 31 7
I. Levinas’s Philosophy As Discourse 320
11. Levinas’s Discourse As Philosophy 352
8. The Im/possibility of Peace 403
I. Incredulities 403
11. Offerings 404
111. Testimonies 408
Bibliography 42 1
Index 433
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To Prof. James Olthuis, mentor and friend, for his patient and
enthusiastic encouragement, fohr is singular gift of being-with me
throughout this long, sometimetsr ying, but always enriching writ-
ing process . . .
To Prof. The0 de Boer of the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam,
whose readings of Levinas and comments uponm y own text have
been a consistent challenge and inspiration to me. . .
To the intellectual and spiritual community at the Institute for
Christian Studies, to all of its members, tfhoer innumerable nour-
ishments I have received . . .
To the memberso f the faculty oft he Institute, present anpdas t,
and particularly, in my case, Professors Hendrik Hart, Calvin Seer-
veld, and William Rowe (now of Scranton University, and who
introduced me to the work of Levinas), for the many things they
. . .
have taught me
To my former student colleagues at the I.C.S., for the invalu-
able contributionst hey have made to my life and work, and above
all to the closest among these, Ronald Kuipers (who made a num-
ber of wise suggestions regarding this text)N, ik Ansell, Janet Wes-
selius, and Shane Cudney . . .
To other special teachers and supporters, Professors Robert
Gibbs of the University of Toronto (who generously read this
work and has encouraged and challenged me to take it further),
David Goicoechea of Brock University, and John D. Caputo of
Villanova University . . .
To The King's University College, Edmonton, an undergradu-
ate institution devoted to both teaching and faculty research, for
providing me with an academic environment conducive to the
final preparations of this text for publication . . .
To my editor Anthony Chiffolo at Fordham University Press
and my copyeditor David Anderson for their efficient and gener-
ous help . . .
X ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To my parents, Michael and Ruth Dudiak, for continuing to
give me life . . .
To my wife, Julie Robinson, for teaching me what redemption
. . .
means
To many others, special friends, and special Friends, wkhnoow
who they are, for the lightness and grace thehya ve brought to my
life and work . . .
And, finally, to Emmanuel Levinas himself, whose graciousness
to mei no urt oob riefa cquaintance,a ndt hei nspirationl eft
across a life's work, have been a marvelous testimony to me of the
intrigue of ethics . . .
. . .
my sincerest and deepest gratitude.
PREFACE
DIALOGUAEN D PEACE
From the macro-cosmic levels of international relations, through
national, democratic politics, down through labor-management
negotiations, to the micro-levels of marital and even personal
therapies, twentieth-century humanity places a great dealo f faith
and hope in dialoguea s a way of peacefully settling conflicts and
resolving tensions that threaten to devolve, or have already de-
volved, into violence.' There would, moreover, appear to be some
warrant for this faith: Sometimes, treaties are signed, the transi-
tion of power is smoothly accomplished, work sites are produc-
tive, and marriages and persons are healed. But dialogue also,
sometimes, fails-either in breaking down or in failing to get un-
derway at all: There are wars, revolutions, strikes, divorces, and
enduring personal brokenness.
Need it be argued, or could it even be argued,2 that peace-
that is, genuine peace,3 and not some or other formo f violence
parading under that name (and despite a certain and seemingly
natural human proclivity for romanticizing bellicosity)-is better
than war? And if, as we (many? most?) Westerners believe, dia-
logue can be a boonto the prospects for peace, mighitt not serve
us to seek to understand why dialogue is seemingly4 so efficacious
in some instances, and not at all so in others? Might we identify
the conditions of possibility of dialogue, and thereby promote (at
least a deeper understanding of the workings of) dialogue, and
thereby contribute to the promotion of peace? This work has as
its ultimate motivation the hope of making some modest contri-
bution to this project, with a trust (however tempered by the
"harsh reality" that being as war imposes "at thev ery moment of
its fulguration when the drapings of illusion burn" (TI 21 [IX]))
in the blessing promised to those, and by those, who undertake