Heidegger and Levinas: the ethical encounter as foundation of phenomenology
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25247/P1982-999X.2025.v25n3.p68-94Keywords:
phenomenology, ethics, ontology, face, DaseinAbstract
This article examines the complex intellectual relationship between Martin Heidegger and Emmanuel Levinas, focusing on their divergent conceptions of ethical encounter as a phenomenological foundation. While Heidegger develops an existential analytic of Dasein that privileges the question of being, Levinas proposes a first ethics grounded in the face-to-face encounter with the Other. Through a comparative analysis of their respective phenomenologies, this work argues that the Levinasian critique of the Heideggerian project does not constitute merely a negation, but a radical transformation that reorients phenomenology toward the primacy of the ethical. The paper examines how both philosophers, starting from Husserl, develop divergent understandings of intersubjectivity, temporality, and responsibility, establishing the foundations for a fundamental debate about the grounds of first philosophy. The analysis extends to contemporary applications of this dialogue in fields such as education, clinical practice, and digital communication, demonstrating the persistent relevance of this philosophical confrontation for understanding human experience in the 21st century.
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