The challenge that war poses to Levinas's thought

Abstract

War is a " state of exception" that not only left an indelible mark on Levinas's life but confronts Levinas with a series of "hard questions" that pose a fundamental challenge to some of the most foundational tenets of his ethical metaphysics. Starting with the sole sustained consideration of war in Levinas's thought, the Preface of Totality and Infinity (TI), this study critically unpacks what it considers to be the three core questions or challenges posed by war: Firstly, the pivotal question raised in the Preface of TI: Does war not render ethics ineffective, as it does not just oppose but suspends this ethical relation? Secondly, the inquiry extends to the notion of a just war: If war indeed involves a suspension of morality, what normative basis can justify the idea of a just war? Thirdly, the complexity arises from the fact that the judgment required for considering a war just implies that the initial ethical relation, which exists prior to reflective thought and morality, cannot remain isolated from political considerations. How can we make sense of this seemingly impossible connection between ethics and politics in Levinas's thought or the apparent gap between ethics and justice in his philosophy? This paper concludes that a simple, either/or binary scheme cannot resolve the tension between the oxymoronic couplets (Totality/Infinity; War/Peace; Politics/Ethics) that pervade Levinas's thought. Instead, they appear to be inextricably linked in a Derridean double-bind of both/and that affirms that the ethical aspect of humanity is not an unwavering state but rather an ongoing struggle to combat the inhumanity associated with Totality, War, Politics, and even at times, "Justice." The burning issue of today of the justice/injustice of the Israel/Palestine war currently dividing the global citizenry is a testament to the fact that "Justice" constantly risks becoming unmoored from its ethical foundation in the necessary distinction between Neighbor and Enemy.