Wenn Blicke sich kreuzen

Abstract

We can look at each other only because we are visible for eacheach other. Looking at and being looked at is not only a key element of being with others but it also infuses a certain amount of tension into the relations with others. On its basis we can, for instance, conspire with somebody. But we can also express admiration or contempt by looking at somebody. Somebody’s look can also tell you what he sees and how he feels about it. If he looks at me, his look reflects first and foremost how I face him. His look responds, so to speak, to something which is part of me but which I do not know of. Even looking into a mirror does not show me what I am like when I look at somebody else. Being looked at brings about a subtle change in what I can do in this particular situation. It places me among the objects of the perceived world. Looking at me the other sees something I will never be able to perceive and by looking at him I see something he will never be able to get hold of. In both cases it is the living face we only show when interacting with a living body. This will be the central subject of the following reflections.