Reflective_Essay_on_Emmanuel_Levinas’_Ethics_and_Infinity

A Reflective Essay on Emmanuel Levinas’ Ethics and Infinity Emmanuel Levinas claims that one of the main problems that we have in modern day thought is that we value ontology over ethics. Ontology is simply the study of how a something or being came into existence and to its totality. It is a very observational type of thought and is very similar to the I-it that we learned about earlier in the semester in Buber’s I and Thou. One who is thinking ontologically would see someone and evaluate them according to basic observations such as height, weight, and stature; much liked a scientist would, but would not go as deep at a relational level which makes the interaction very self-serving in nature. Levinas claims that this totalitarian view that we have to know everything completely ontologically has made the West more warlike in nature. He makes this claim because in our pursuits of knowledge and wisdom we have neglected the individuality of individuals, viewing them as objects rather than people. When we see people as objects rather than individuals it makes them easier to dispose of and creates a state of tyranny and war. Levinas believes that to escape the tyranny and the egotistical pursuit of knowledge we must learn to see past simple meaning and to start to view the world relationally. This is the beginning of ethics! Ethics is the opposite of ontology. It can be described as the nature in which we interact and relate with the people and/or the environment that is placed around us. Contrary to an ontological (objective) view, people are regarded as individual people rather than objects. Ethics is intended to go deeper than just a simple observation or passing glance, but into pondering how the other is thinking and learning to care for their well-being. Ethics is most often learned experientially just as the I-you is described in Buber’s book. The I-you values relationships, and an ethical view on life would be to examine your thoughts and decision-making based on how your thoughts and decisions will affect your relationships with others. A tool that Levinas uses to help one move from an ontological view of life to an ethical view of life is the idea of the ‘face.’ Levinas’ ‘face’ is in short to view something from two different perspectives. Naturally, if we see someone’s face we see the obvious characteristics such as their facial structure, skin color, and other unique features. However, behind the eyes that you look directly into, there is also a unique set of experiences and life lived that just by viewing a particular face one may never know. We can view their eyes and see the direction that they are looking towards, but we do not know what they are looking at, thinking, feeling, etc. Viewing the face is viewing more than just the objective look at who someone is but understanding that there is an individual behind the face with unique needs and ideas that one couldn’t gather by simply seeing their physical features. An example of a purely ontological view would be a man viewing an attractive woman at a bar or something similar. He also notices that by her actions and the company that surrounds her, she has perhaps had too many to drink and is very susceptible to a chance encounter. The man naturally is drawn to her physical features, and begins to ponder what it would be like to be with her and to get to know her completely. There is no consideration for the woman’s wants or desires, and he views the relationship only from his perspective. He has no concern for what will happen to her after the encounter and what kind of damage that it could possibly cause. Therefore, he is viewing the relationship purely objectively. It is easy to see how destructive a person could be under the influence of this mentality. An ethical view of the same situation would look something like this. The man enters the bar and sees the same woman. He still notices that she is attractive and also that she is in a vulnerable position, but he begins to look past purely observing the situation and evaluating it internally for self. The man looks at the “face” and begins to wonder if possibly some struggles in the woman’s life has caused her to lose control. He then introduces himself to the woman and attempts to get to know her on a relational level. After some conversation he realizes that she has definitely had too much to drink. Rather than exploiting the situation for personal gain he instead calls a cab and has her dropped off at her home. The ontological man viewed the situation objectively and used the woman and the situation to his advantage. The ethical man did indeed analyze the situation, but also looked past himself and viewed the woman as an individual rather than an object. The differences in thought and the outcomes of each situation are polar opposites, one a detriment to society and one contributing to the greater good of all parties involved. Wouldn’t there be an amazing change on this earth if more people chose to live ethically rather than objectively. Levinas’ ethical views and theories of the ‘face’ are Jewish Thought because they help a believer begin to grasp how they and the world interact with the rest of humanity and the divine. Keeping a view on ethics as well as the ‘face’ helps a person to keep their eyes off of themselves and on meeting the needs of others which is also the heart of the law in scriptures. Ontological thought and the objectification of individuals leads to a person becoming the only person left in their world, and thus creating the same effect as if someone were to be locked in an isolation cell for years. An ethical view on life allows us to live in community thinking and serving each other out of selflessness, which is the ideal desire of every man and woman. Work Cited Levinas, Emmanuel, Ethics and Infinity: Conversations with Phillipe Nemo