Abstract
This chapter examines the relationship between the real other and the other. My central claim is that the term “other” conveys the concealment and exclusion of the real other. To substantiate this claim, I will draw a distinction between two types of discourse—one political and one ontological—wherein the term other plays a role. Although the term will be shown to have different denotations in each of these two types of discourse, both exclude the real other. My conceptual analysis, I will argue, offers a path for ethical, political, and social amendment, bringing back the real other from hiddenness and exclusion.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
That is, “being with.” De Beauvoir hints here at a concept used by Heidegger, for whom to be human invariably means to be with the other. See Martin Heidegger, Being and Time, trans. John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson (New York: Harper and Row, 1962), 155. For an extensive discussion, see 149–168.
- 2.
Although de Beauvoir hints at Heidegger here, note he never assumed that being with the other implies solidarity and friendship. Quite the contrary: in an authentic existence, the other’s function is to awaken the individual to be his or her own self, his or her conscience, and the relationship is one of care and concern for the other’s ontological existence (see ibid., 159, 314). Solidarity and friendship are impossible at the non-authentic level of existence because, in this mode, humans endeavor to abolish their mutual differences and otherness (see ibid., 163–166).
- 3.
De Beauvoir suggests here a reading typical of her socio-political circle, which interprets Hegel’s master and slave dialectic in political terms rather than, as Hegel’s text suggests, in epistemic terms.
- 4.
Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, trans. Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany Chevallier (New York: Vintage, 2011), 26–27.
- 5.
Ibid., 27.
- 6.
Emmanuel Levinas, Totality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority, trans. Alphonso Lingis (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1979), 38.
- 7.
Ibid. (emphasis in original).
- 8.
His letter is cited in Richard Sennet, “Cosmopolitanism and the Social Experience of Cities,” in Conceiving Cosmopolitanism: Theory, Context and Practice, ed. Steven Vertovec and Robin Cohen (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 43.
- 9.
Levinas, Totality and Infinity, 37.
- 10.
De Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 32.
- 11.
Ibid., 105.
- 12.
Ibid., 115, note 3.
- 13.
Ibid., 114.
- 14.
Levinas, Totality and Infinity, 38–39.
- 15.
Ibid., 49.
- 16.
Emmanuel Levinas, Ethics and Infinity: Conversations with Philippe Nemo, trans. Richard A. Cohen (Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press, 1985), 98.
- 17.
Ibid., 99.
- 18.
Emmanuel Levinas, “God and Philosophy,” in The Levinas Reader, ed. Seán Hand (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1989), 178.
- 19.
Ibid., 50–51.
- 20.
Emmanuel Levinas, Humanism of the Other, trans. Nidra Poller (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2003), 7.
- 21.
Ibid., 38–44.
- 22.
Ibid., 40–41 (emphasis in original).
- 23.
Levinas, Totality and Infinity, 66.
- 24.
Ibid., 67–69.
- 25.
Ibid., 202 (emphasis in the original). See also idem, Alterity and Transcendence, trans. Michael B. Smith (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999), 93–95.
- 26.
Alan Udoff and Barbara Galli, eds. Franz Rosenzweig’s “The New Thinking” (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1999), 86.
- 27.
Ibid.
- 28.
Ibid., 87.
- 29.
Ibid., 86.
- 30.
Ernesto R. Sábato, On Heroes and Tombs, trans. Helen R. Lane (Boston: Godine, 1981), 141. This approach is particularly prominent in the novel of John Barth, The End of the Road (Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1967). In my book, Reflections on Identity: The Jewish Case, trans. Batya Stein (Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2017), I consider this view and reject it. See, in particular, chs. 1 and 2. See also my book, The Jewish Israeli Voyage: Culture and Identity (Jerusalem: Shalom Hartman Institute, 2006) [Heb], 185–207. These radical approaches, however, clearly challenge essentialist perceptions of the self. Levinas’ view is, in a deep sense, essentialist in its assumption of an absolute, transcendent otherness that is beyond the changing manifestations of the self.
- 31.
Udoff and Galli, eds. “The New Thinking,” 87.
- 32.
Robert Gibbs, Correlations in Rosenzweig and Levinas (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992).
- 33.
Nahum N. Glatzer and Paul Mendes-Flohr, eds., The Letters of Martin Buber: A Life of Dialogue, trans. Richard and Clara Winston and Harry Zohn (New York: Schocken Books, 1991), 278.
- 34.
Ibid., 279 (emphasis in the original).
- 35.
This issue is discussed at length in Karl Jaspers, Philosophy, vol. 2, trans. E. B. Ashton (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970), 42–72. See also Avi Sagi, “The Category of the ‘Other’ and Its Implications for Buber’s Philosophy of Dialogue,” Daat 13 (1984): 95–114 [Heb], and the discussion below.
- 36.
See Levinas, Totality and Infinity, 39–42.
- 37.
Milan Kundera, The Festival of Insignificance: A Novel, trans. Linda Asher (New York: Harper, 2015), 63.
- 38.
Emmanuel Levinas, Difficult Freedom: Essays on Judaism, trans. Seán Hand (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990), 50.
- 39.
Edmund Husserl, Cartesian Meditations: An Introduction to Phenomenology, trans. Dorion Cairns (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1982), 148–149.
- 40.
Ibid., 149.
- 41.
Ibid., 110–111. For an analysis of role of the imagination in the attitude toward the other according to Husserl, see Paul Ricoeur, Husserl: An Analysis of His Phenomenology (Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1967), 123–130.
- 42.
Richard Rorty, Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), xvi.
- 43.
Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: A Phenomenological Essay on Ontology, trans Hazel E. Barnes (New York: Pocket Books, 1978), 255.
- 44.
See also Sagi, “The Category of the ‘Other’ and Its Implications.”
- 45.
Martin Buber, Between Man and Man, trans. Ronald Gregor Smith (London: Collins, 1961), 212 (emphasis in the original).
- 46.
Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 256
- 47.
Jaspers, Philosophy, 53.
- 48.
Goce Smilevski, Freud’s Sister: A Novel (New York: Penguin Books, 2012).
- 49.
Ibid., 53.
- 50.
Martha Nussbaum, “Cosmopolitanism and Patriotism,” in For Love of Country: Debating the Limits of Patriotism, ed. Joshua Cohen (Boston: Beacon Press, 1996), 9.
- 51.
See Michel Foucault, “The Ethics of the Concern of the Self as a Practice of Freedom,” in Ethics: Subjectivity and Truth, The Essential Works of Michel Foucault 1945 -1984, vol. 1, ed. Paul Rabinow, trans. Robert Hurley et al. (New York: Allen Lane/Penguin Press, 1997), 284. Elsewhere, Foucault referred to this process as “practices of the self,” a term denoting the praxis that the subject must engage in. See idem, The History of Sexuality, vol. 2, The Use of Pleasure (New York: Vintage Books, 1990), 28.
- 52.
Joseph Koerner, “The Icon as Iconoclash,” in Iconoclash: Beyond the Image Wars in Science, Religion, and Art, ed. Bruno Latour and Peter Weibel (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2002), 164–213.
- 53.
Gal Shahar, Palimpsest and Dialectics of Erasure in Visual Art (Ph.D. Dissertation: Bar-Ilan University, 2015), 10 [Heb].
- 54.
On this matter, see Paul Ricoeur, The Conflict of Interpretations: Essays in Hermeneutics (Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1974), 18, 154–155, 335–342.
- 55.
Ibid., 18.
- 56.
Ibid., 381–401.
- 57.
Ibid., 389–390. Cf. Clifford Geertz, Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology (New York: Basic Books, 1983), 55–70. See also Raphael Samuel, “Reading the Signs,” History Workshop Journal 32 (1991): 88–109.
- 58.
See also Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar, The Mad Woman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the 19th Century Literary Imagination (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1979), 217.
- 59.
Levinas, Humanism of the Other, 39.
- 60.
Ibid. 40.
- 61.
Ibid., 41. See also Gibbs, Correlations in Rosenzweig and Levinas, 204–207.
- 62.
Levinas, Humanism of the Other, 40.
- 63.
Romain Gary, The Dance of Genghis Cohn (New York: World Publishing, 1968), 113–114.
- 64.
In her introductory essay, Hava Tirosh-Samuelson pointed to a potential connection between my philosophical work on ethics and Isaac Luria’s notion of tsimtsum. As she rightfully noted, however, I do not relate to this kabbalistic tradition because my stance is ethical rather than cosmological. See Hava Tirosh-Samuelson, “Avi Sagi: An Intellectual Portrait,” in Avi Sagi: Existentialism, Pluralism, and Identity, ed. Hava Tirosh-Samuelson and Aaron W. Hughes, (Leiden: Brill, 2015), 32, n. 11. In the present chapter, I attempt to grapple with the challenge that she posed and point to the Jewish normative sources that prompted my thinking. I am thankful for the fruitful dialogue between us.
- 65.
See TB Yevamoth 60b-61a.
- 66.
For an analysis of the talmudic expression “you are called man” and the commentary of the mishnah in Avot, see Avi Sagi, Judaism: Between Religion and Morality (Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1998) [Heb], ch. 8.
- 67.
Shmuel di Uzeda, Midrash Shmuel: A Collection of Commentaries on Pirkei Avot, trans. Moshe Shapiro and David Rottenberg (Jerusalem: Haktav, 1994), 196.
- 68.
This commentary appears in most standard editions of the Mishnah.
- 69.
Israel Lipschutz, Tif’eret Israel, Yakhin on Avot 3:14, § 89.
- 70.
Ibid., Boaz, on Avot 3:14, § 1.
- 71.
Ibid.
- 72.
On Lipschutz’s attitude toward science, see Moshe Weinstock, Faith and Halakhah in the Modern World: The Writings and Philosophies of R. Yisra’el and Rabbi Baruch Yitzchak Lipschutz (Ph.D. dissertation: Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2008), 85–134 [Heb].
- 73.
Lipschutz, Tif’eret Israel, Avot 5:2.
- 74.
Ibid., 3:14.
- 75.
For an excellent analysis of this issue, see Weinstock, Faith and Halakhah, 157–208.
- 76.
Zelda, The Spectacular Difference: Selected Poems, trans. Marcia Falk (Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 2004), 141.
- 77.
For a detailed analysis of this poem, see Avi Sagi, The Human Voyage to Meaning: A Philosophical Hermeneutical Study of Literary Works (Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 2009) [Heb], 71–87.
- 78.
Midrash Rabbah, Ecclesiastes 5:12.
- 79.
Midrash Rabbah, Exodus 48:1.
- 80.
Jean Paul Sartre, The Transcendence of the Ego: An Existentialist Theory of Consciousness, trans. Forrest Williams and Robert Kirkpatrick (New York: Hill and Wang, 1960), 74–75.
- 81.
M. Avodah Zarah 1:1.
- 82.
See Israel Ta-Shma, “Judeo-Christian Commerce on Sundays in Medieval Germany and Provence,” Tarbiz 47 (1978), 198 [Heb].
- 83.
Tosefot Avodah Zarah 2a, s.v. asur.
- 84.
Ta-Shma, “Judeo-Christian Commerce,” 199–201.
- 85.
I emphasize this point, which eluded Jacob Katz. He argued that the tosafists reiterate the stance of Rabbenu Gershom and other sages: “It was by a juridical formula that he made his case, and not by a genuine distinction based on historical or theological considerations” (Jacob Katz, Exclusiveness and Tolerance: Studies in Jewish-Gentile Relations in Medieval and Modern Times [London: Oxford University Press, 1961], 33–34). Katz is right when stating that neither Rabbenu Gershom nor other tosafists were pondering a theological reversal vis-à-vis Christianity. He is wrong, however, in his understanding of the tosafists’ stance (to which he refers inp. 34, note 1), given that the tosafists rejected the talmudic principle and suggested a response based on their actual observation of Christians’ life, which led them to conclude that they were not idolaters.
- 86.
Ta-Shma hypothesizes that this term denotes Pasha [Easter] “whose name Jews corrupted by replacing P with K. Pasha is the day of Jesus’ resurrection after his crucifixion and death, and this and Natal are the day of his birth and the day of his death ... Pasha is the one Christian festivity whose name was taken directly from the Hebrew, and they therefore needed to make a considerable change in the main consonant, so that the Hebrew Pesah would not be named after this Christian holiday”(Ta-Shma, “Judeo-Christian Commerce,” 202, note 17).
- 87.
Meir b. Yosef b. Avisroi, Hiddushei Talmidei Rabbenu Yonah al Masekhet Avodah Zarah, ed. Zvi Hacohen Zarkovsky (Brooklyn, 1955), 2, s.v. laset.
- 88.
Sefer ha-Terumah, first printing (Venice, 1522), §134.
- 89.
R. Eliezer b. Nathan, Even ha-Ezer, ed. Shlomo Zalman Ehrenreich, 124b, § 288. See also Ta-Shma, “Judeo-Christian Commerce,” 203.
- 90.
Or Zaru’a, Hilkhot Avodah Zarah. The discussion and the sources rely on Ta-Shma, “Judeo-Christian Commerce,” 201–203.
- 91.
This stance resembles that of Rashi, who states: “At present, Gentiles are not versed in the nature of idolatry” (Rashi, Responsa, ed. Israel Elfenbein [New York, 1953] § 327 [Heb]). In my view, Katz‘s determination that Rashi’s stance is close to that of Rabbenu Gershom is inaccurate. A more plausible assumption is that it is the tosafists’ last responsum that is close to Rashi’s view.
- 92.
Ta-Shma, “Judeo-Christian Commerce,” 202.
- 93.
Ibid. See also 202–203.
- 94.
Ariel Picard, Seeing the Voices: Traditions, Creativity and the Freedom of Interpretation in Judaism (Tel-Aviv: Yedi’ot Aharonot, 2016), 191–192 [Heb].
- 95.
This issue is discussed at length in Katz, Exclusiveness and Tolerance, 114–128. A summary of this discussion and a new presentation was suggested by Moshe Halbertal, Between Torah and Wisdom: Rabbi Menachem ha-Meiri and the Maimonidean Halakhists in Provence (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 2000) [Heb].
- 96.
Menachem ha-Meiri, Beth ha-Behirah, Bava Kamma, ed. Kalman Schlessinger (Jerusalem, 1963), 330 [Heb].
- 97.
TB Bava Metsi’a 59a.
- 98.
Meiri, Beth ha-Behirah, Bava Metsi’ah, 219.
- 99.
Meiri, Beth ha-Behirah, Avodah Zarah, 59.
- 100.
Ibid.
- 101.
Maimonides, Mishneh Torah: The Book of Seasons, trans. Solomon Gandz and Hyman Klein (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1956–1961), Laws of Sabbath 2:12.
- 102.
Beth ha-Behirah, Yoma, ed. Yitzhak Hacohen Klein (Jerusalem, 1975), 212.
- 103.
See Katz, Exclusiveness and Tolerance, 122. This is also Halbertal’s fundamental thesis in Between Torah and Wisdom.
- 104.
For a summary of the references to Maimonides’ halakhic stance, see Dror Fiksler and Gil Nadal, “Are Contemporary Christians Idolaters?” Tehumin 22 (2002): 68–74 [Heb].
- 105.
Sensitivity to these questions and a tendency to restrict the philosophical justification of Meiri’s view is evident in Ephraim E. Urbach, “Rabbi Menachem Ha-Meiri’s Theory of Tolerance: Its Origins and Limits,” in Studies in the History of Jewish Society in the Middle Ages and in the Modern Period Presented to Professor Jacob Katz on his 75th Birthday by His Students and Friends, ed. Emmanuel Etkes and Yosef Shalmon (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1980) [Heb]; Gerald J. Blidstein, “Menahem Me’iri’s Attitude Towards Gentiles: Apologetics or Worldview,” in Jewish Intellectual History in the Middle Ages, ed. Joseph Dan (Westport, CO: Praeger, 1994), 119–135. It bears repeated emphasis that Meiri, a Provence native, was close to the Spanish sages. See Benjamin Zeev Benedict, The Torah Center in Provence: An Anthology (Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kook, 1985), 17 [Heb]; Israel Ta-Shma,
Talmudic Commentary in Europe and North Africa (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 2000), 170 [Heb]. See also idem, “Halakhah, Kabbalah, and Philosophy in Christian Spain,” in Studies in Medieval Rabbinic Literature, vol. 2, Spain (Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 2004) [Heb].
- 106.
Sartre devoted an entire section to it in Being and Nothingness, 252–302.
- 107.
Ibid., 257. See 256–259.
- 108.
Ibid., 260.
- 109.
On this sage and his spiritual world, see Sagi, Judaism: Between Religion and Morality, 335–349.
- 110.
R. Moshe Israel Hazan, Responsa: Kerah shel Romi (Livorno, 1876), § 15, p. 55.
- 111.
Eliezer Berkovits, “The Woman’s Status in Judaism: A Halakhic-Social Perspective,” in The Jewish Woman in Society, in the Family, and in Education, ed. Dov Rappel (Jerusalem: Benei Hemed, 1989), 44–45 [Heb].
- 112.
Maimonides, Mishneh Torah: The Book of Women, trans. Isaac Klein (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1972), Laws of Marriage 13:11.
- 113.
Berkovits, “The Woman’s Status,” 45.
- 114.
Ibid., 45–47
- 115.
de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 159–160.
- 116.
Ibid., 283.
- 117.
Ibid., 311.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sagi, A. (2018). The Real Other Beyond the Other. In: Living With the Other. Contributions To Phenomenology, vol 99. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99178-8_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99178-8_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-99177-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-99178-8
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)