Totalität und Unendlichkeit

For Lévinas, the social relationship between people is something so peculiar that it cannot be reduced to causal relationships, logic, or intentionality. In his thinking, it forms the actual, world-constituting, and at the same time transcending principle from which all other relationships become understandable. It leads us beyond the totality of the world to the infinity of the Other. Therefore, the task of the book is to first highlight the social relationship in its uniqueness. Then, Lévinas develops the concept of the autonomous subject from his premises, presents the ethical encounter with the Other, and the loss of autonomy. Finally, the author discusses the possibility of the renewal of the subject in the erotic relationship and the family.