Steven Fleishman

What is the view, the philosophy—call it 'Greek' or 'Western' or 'Analytic'—that Levinas asks us to move beyond? To consider both that question and its answer is the project behind this essay. Thus, this essay is only a prelude to the larger and more difficult project of attempting to understand the Levinasian view. But it is a prelude that asks whether the Levinasian view moves beyond the very view needed to understand it. As a prelude it is, perhaps unfortunately, more lyrical than scholastic.

What is the view, the philosophy—call it 'Greek' or 'Western' or 'Analytic'—that Levinas asks us to move beyond? To consider both that question and its answer is the project behind this essay. Thus, this essay is only a prelude to the larger and more difficult project of attempting to understand the Levinasian view. But it is a prelude that asks whether the Levinasian view moves beyond the very view needed to understand it. As a prelude it is, perhaps unfortunately, more lyrical than scholastic.