Levinas' work 'Totality and Infinity'

Levinas' Work: 'Totality and Infinity'

Levinas' work, 'Totality and Infinity,' presents a new foundation for the self's relationship with others. He departs from Heidegger's concept of the fog of Being.

The Essence of Living Animals

The normal sounds of dogs barking in prison remind Levinas of the essence of living animals who give one other the basic respect they deserve.

Martin Buber's Work: 'I and Thou'

Martin Buber's work, 'I and Thou,' which is more ethical than ontological, lends weight to Levinas' theories on relationships. Personal and interpersonal connections are distinguished by the thoughts. Establishing a clear distinction between them aids in providing this acknowledgment to the other entities with whom we engage. I believe that face-to-face encounter with another being helps to identify them before making ethical demands to them. Based on his philosophical thought, I can argue that impersonal relationships do not recognize the existence of human beings, unlike the personal relationships that acknowledge the existence of people. A personal relationship is more fundamental than self, consciousness, or being. Like Levinas, Simone Weil considered placing other people's ethical demands first. From her perspective, I understand the close link between relationships, ethics, and religion. The interpersonal and personal relationships are closely related to the ethics and religion.

Linking Religious Faith with Mystery

Linking religious faith with the notion of mystery makes it evident that it doesn't clear things up, and, in the end, we cannot know everything about life. Therefore, we are not able to explain everything that happens in our lives or our personal actions. Due to this, we have to base our relationships and doings on something firm such as faith and religion.

Ethical and Religious Nature

To sum up, personal and interpersonal relationships recognize the existence of other human beings, therefore they are ethical and religious in nature.