Abraham as a metaphor for the Other human being in the philosophical work of Emmanuel Levinas

Abstract

This work aims to undertake a theoretical reconstruction of the figure of Abraham as a central category in the formation of subjectivity in Jewish thought and to demonstrate how he becomes a philosophical reference in Levinas’ work. To achieve this, it delves into Levinas’s Jewish roots and his work, wherein the figure of Abraham emerges as the principle of ethical subjectivation in the process of constituting the covenant people, in contrast to the Greek figure of Ulysses. Among the findings of this study is the presence of Abraham as a self that responds to the call of the Other, not to absorb it into one’s selfhood, but to establish oneself as a being-for-the-Other and acknowledge the obligatory fulfillment of inescapable responsibilities tied to one’s existence. Furthermore, metaphor is described as an opening and an departure from oneself that leads the human being beyond their own self. The article concludes that Levinas’ philosophical thought, primarily grounded in ethics, has significantly contributed to our understanding of the human being as an essential Other in intersubjective relationships. This conception is rooted directly in the Jewish tradition, in contrast to the Greek tradition that has formed the basis of much of Western philosophy’s development.