Alterity and Understanding A Hermeneutical Approach to Levinas

Levinas' ethics presupposes radical alterity, which is unthinkable and impossible from the (onto) logical point of view. The alterity of the other is situated beyond understanding and does not tolerate any hermeneutic mediation. This paper, in contrast, tries to show that Levinas' methodological approach, which relies on a "phenomenology" of the face, cannot do without a hermeneutical reflection. If hermeneutics and ontology (which is related to it) are conceived of in a radically open manner, they no longer possess the oppressive and violent character which Levinas ascribes to them. This leads to the question of whether there exists a possibility for mediation between Levinas' ethics of alterity and (an ontological) hermeneutics which could correspond to his ethics. Such a mediation would not aim at devising a new totality which would betray the main concerns of Levinas, but rather envisages a deeper awareness of alterity and its consequences for ethics.