The principle of la alterity of Lévinas as the foundation for ethical responsibilit

Abstract

Emmanuel Lévinas’ philosophical project is considered one of the most relevant contemporary discourse on the perspective of the alterity of ethics. We note that the Levinasian proposal is an attempt to get out of being, focusing and giving importance to others, overcoming a philosophy of power and totality. The alterity presented by the author is always the ethical relationship between other and me, where I am responsible to care each other, overcoming the selfishness, they call “ethical action”, and cannot generate any type of violence. The other one is always the epiphany. Therefore, ethics is the interpellation with the other that invite us to care and have responsibility. In this way, we notice that the Levinasian ethic is to act responsibly in front of what is presented to me, and act against all kinds of exclusion and violence. The alterity and ethics are only possible if exist a relation to each other. In this study, we must try to emphasize in this study the importance of overcoming an occidental philosophy centered only on the being, proving that we are responsible for the face of the other that is presented to us, often violated.