Totalite et Infini

Totality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority

“Peace”, “justice”, “eschatology” and even “god” were terms considered irrelevant by many of Emmanuel Levinas’s contemporaries. However, Levians chooses to make them central to his book Totality and Infinity, drawing upon Jewish thought and accomplished scholars often brushed aside by Western philosophy.

Published in1961, this book has become one of the milestones of philosophical thought in the 20th century. Levinas outlines a trail leading from egoism, or “atheism”, of the individual subject to its breaking point, which occurs upon encountering the Other, whose face produces infinity. He describes the tension between ethics and politics, conducting a critical dialogue with some of the forefathers of Western philosophy like Plato, Hegel, Buber and Heidegger.

Témoignage de Thérèse Goldstein, assistante d’Emmanuel Levinas à l’ENIO (Ecole Normale Israélite Orientale, Paris ), qui a dactylographié Totalité et Infini, ainsi que l’essentiel de son œuvre entre 1953 et 1980 :