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An Introduction to Emmanuel Levinas's Political Thought. William Paul Simmons Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College

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An Introduction to Emmanuel Levinas's Political Thought. William Paul Simmons Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1996 An-Archy and Justice: An Introduction to Emmanuel Levinas's Political Thought. William Paul Simmons Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Simmons, William Paul, "An-Archy and Justice: An Introduction to Emmanuel Levinas's Political Thought." (1996). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 6374. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/6374 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely afreet reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. 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AN-ARCHY AND JUSTICE: AN INTRODUCTION TO EMMANUEL LEVINAS1S POLITICAL THOUGHT A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agriculture and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Political Science by William P. Simmons B.A., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1987 M.A., Louisiana State University, 1992 December 1996 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9720388 UMI Microform 9720388 Copyright 1997, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Dedicated in loving memory to: Patricia Ann Idzikowski (1953-1988) and William Henry Simmons (1933-1993) ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am extremely grateful to the excellent faculty who served on ray conmittee. Dr. Cecil Eubanks's careful attention to this text made it much better than it would otherwise have been. Moreover, he deserves ray appreciation for the compassion and kindness he has shown throughout my graduate career. Professor Charles Bigger set an indelible example with his passion for learning and teaching. Also, Professor Bigger introduced me to the gift that is the writings of Emmanuel Levinas. For their help on this dissertation and the profound influence they have had on my training in political theory, I would like to thank Professors 6. Ellis Sandoz and James R. Stoner. Professor James C. Garand made several important suggestions about this dissertation and, in many ways, showed me what it means to be a political scientist. Professor Charles Tolbert served admirably in the underappreciated role of Dean's Representative. I also would like to thank several other professors who have enriched ray graduate career. Professor Kenneth F. Kitchell, taught me a love of the Greek language and by his generosity, wisdom, and iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. slightly off-center sense of humor helped me keep my studies in perspective. Thanks are also due to Professors Huey L. Perry, William Arp III, and Sharon Parsons of Southern University whose encouragement and patience allowed me to complete this project in a timely manner. This dissertation also benefitted from many excellent discussions with my colleagues at Louisiana State University, especially Randy LeBlanc, Todd Meyers, Pete Petrakis, Charles Burchfield, and Ed Findlay. I would also like to acknowledge the excellent secretarial staff in the Department of Political Science at LSU. I would also like to thank my family who have supported me in so many ways. Special thanks are due to my mother, Marilyn Simmons, and my Grandfather, Paul Lemberger, whose compassion and love I will always cherish. The greatest thanks go to my wife, Irene, who not only read the entire manuscript with a critical eye, but is a constant source of inspiration. I love you Irene. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION .................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................ iii ABSTRACT .................................. viii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ........................ 1 Intellectual Biography .............. 3 Totality and Infinity .............. 7 Derrida's Analysis of Totality and Infinity .............. 12 Otherwise than B e i n g - ................ 17 Judaism and Philosophizing Otherwise . 21 Levinasian Politics ................ 29 C o n c l u s i o n .......................... 37 2. AUTONOMY, TOTALITY, AND ANTI-HUMANISM: LEVINAS'S CRITIQUE OF THE WESTERN PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITION .............. 42 Parmenides: Being and not Non-Being . 47 Plato: The Forms, Anamnesis, and the Good beyond Being... .......... 49 Aristotle: Autonomous Thought and Com-prehension .................. 52 Descartes: Freedom of the Cogito and the Idea of the Infinite ........ 55 Hegel: Totality and the Master-Slave Relationship .......... 59 Husserl: Self-Consciousness and Time-Consciousness .............. 63 Heidegger: Dasein, Mitsein, and Anti-Humanism .................. 68 C o n c l u s i o n .......................... 73 3. LEVINASIAN ETHICS I: TOTALITY AND INFINITY ................ 76 Overturning the Tyranny of the Same . 76 Desire and the Idea of the Infinite . 79 The F a c e ............................ 91 Responsibility ...................... 96 The D i v i n e ............................ 101 C o n c l u s i o n ............................ 102 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 4. LEVINASIAN ETHICS II: OTHERWISE THAN BEING .................. 105 Otherwise than B e i n g .................. 110 The Saying and the Said .............. 113 Proximity ............................ 120 The Trace ............................ 125 Substitution .......................... 128 Oscillation Between the Saying and the S a i d .......................... 134 Skepticism and An-archical Ethics as Non-Philosophy .............. 138 C o n c l u s i o n ............................ 141 5. ETHICS AND POLITICS: AN-ARCHY AND JUSTICE .................. 145 The Politics of Suspicion ............ 146 Ethics to Politics: The Third .... 154 Ethics and Politics: Hebraism and Hellenism ................ 167 The Levinasian S t a t e .................. 172 Conclusion: An-Archy and Justice . 176 6. LEVINAS'S HETERONOMIC POLITICAL THOUGHT IN PERSPECTIVE .......................... 178 Heteronomy Contra Autonomy: Levinas Contra Hobbes and Locke . 179 Pluralism Contra Totality: Levinas Contra H e g e l .................. 193 C o n c l u s i o n ............................ 205 7. HUMANISM CONTRA ANTI-HUMANISM: LEVINAS CONTRA HEIDEGGER .............. 207 Humanism and Anti-humanism ............ 207 Atheistic Humanism: Jean-Paul Sartre . 213 Ontological Anti-humanism: Martin Heidegger ...................... 217 Metaphysical Anti-humanism: Jacques Derrida ...................... 221 Humanism of the Other: Emmanuel Levinas ...................... 225 C o n c l u s i o n ............................ 233 8. CONCLUSION: THE QUESTIONING OP LEVINAS 235 Separation, Relation, and Oscillation: Levinas1s Metaphysical, Ethical, and Political Thought .............. 236 vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The Questioning of Levinas: Judaism .............................. 244 The Questioning of Levinas: Non-Philosophy ........................ 246 The Questioning of Levinas: The Primacy of Ethics ................. 250 The Questions
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