Infinite Responsibility, Singular Context: Levinas and the Deduction Problem

• In Event: Utilizing Levinasian Ethics for Modern-Day Rhetorical Situations

Abstract

The contribution of Emmanuel Levinas to theories of dialogic ethics cannot be overstated. Clifford Christians has observed that the dialogic model of ethics serves as the guiding norm for the study of all communication processes. In the interest of more fully appreciating the promises and challenges of Levinas’ contribution to the communication discipline, it is necessary to examine what Simon Critchley has termed Levinas’ “political problem.” In this paper I address Critchley’s concern with political invention in Levinas’ philosophy. The Levinasian assertion that politics can be deducted from ethics presents a dilemma between the infinite ethical demand of the other and the political necessity of decision-making in the absence of transcendental guarantees. I argue that Critchley’s emphasis on the importance of establishing a nonfoundational, indeterminate relation between the ethical and political is a needed insight into any discussion of Levinas and communication ethics.

Author

• Samuel Boerboom, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities