The ethical dilemma of proximity in the thought of Emmanuel Levinas

Abstract

This article presents a theoretical discussion on how the work of Emmanuel Levinas can help us deal with the ethical problem of proximity. To this end, we will observe proximity in three aspects of Levinas's work of utmost importance: 1) from the problems posed by Edmund Husserl's phenomenology and the creation of phenomenology, Levinas sets out for an ethical vision; 2) the idea of face and its contact with the thought of Franz Rosenzweig until the idea of creating a new vocabulary during the 1970s to refer to its prox-imity; and 3) how Levinas brought contributions from Jewish thought, both from religion and from the Hebrew language, to add the idea of an expanded Talmudic ethics. In the three developments, Levinas gives us indications that this work cannot be merely theorized, but needs movement towards a gradual development of the consciousness of both parties in-volved in the relationship.