Le problème de l’éthique et le visage de l’autre. Martin Buber et Emmanuel Levinas en dialogue

Abstract

This article examines the complex relationship between Martin Buber and Emmanuel Levinas, and focuses on the parallels and differences between both thinkers on different levels: First, with regard to language and its significance in the ethical relationship to the Other (Levinas) or the Thou (Buber). In a second step, their different approach to ethics is discussed: while Levinas characterizes the relationship to the Other as asymmetrical, for Buber the I encounters the Thou as an equal partner. In light of their different ethical conceptions, some of the key notions of Levinas’s and Buber’s thought are discussed and compared – the face of the other, the reciprocity of the relationship, the illeity and, last but not least, their different approach to Judaism.