Illeity and Prophetism

March 6, 2012

Illeity

The concept of illeity stresses how God is absolutely Other than human beings. God is non-comprehensible; and if we have an idea of God in our minds, that idea is not God. This concept stresses that God’s transcendence can never be totally contained; God is always ahead of us and we can never catch up. Levinas, in stressing transcendence, is showing that God is majestic and absolutely different from us. But although he is distant and different he is non-indifferent to us.

To stress the transcendence of God is to stress that God is not an idol.  An idol is something that one can command, manipulate, or predict. We cannot expect God to do the things we want.  When atheists say “God does not exist”, they have in mind certain ideas of God which, upon critical reflection, must really be killed. Nietzsche was correct when he said certain ‘ideas’ of God must be smashed. Sometimes it is as if God is absent, but perhaps we only have a pre-judgement of how God should manifest.We make God conform to our image, instead of us coming closer to God. This is not the God of illeity. God’s presence is not usually manifested in ways we want or expect.

Though God is not a phenomenon and he is not perceived nor does he hide himself. Because He is always ahead He only leaves behind a ‘trace.’ God shows himself in our responsibility and our genuine relationship with Others. Because God cannot be seen or perceived, it is through the witnesses that he makes himself felt. The glory of the infinite is revealed in what it changes in the witness. Illeity is almost considered absent in order to bring about the creativity of the human being.

This presence is one which retreats to create space so that the human being can be responsible for the Other. The glory of the infinite consists in our creativity for the Other. The infinite is also in me because I am inspired by the Other. Ethics is not just external impositions, but it something that is inside me, disturbs me, and pushes me out to testify.

Prophetism

(Notes on Interview number 10)

Every human being is called to be prophet or witness. The fact that one can be responsible means that one can be a prophet.

Levinas says that responsibility is beyond knowledge and should not remain within knowledge; however, one must go through knowledge. Levinas cannot make us responsible, he can only speak of responsibility. Prophetism is the moment of the human condition itself; every human being assuming responsibility for the Other is assuming responsibility for the Infinite.

Ethics and religion go together. Ethics is the responsibility for the Other. Levinas is showing that the love of God is not the love of God without love of Other.

This responsibility is spelled out in more complete rules and norms in religion. Sometimes people console themselves by following the letter of these rules but are not really following its spirit. When people just confine themselves to fulfilling those rules, they may be ‘religious’ but they are not practicing religion. Religion is the good you do to the Other. There is a difference between a ‘religious’ person and an ethical person.

 

Illeity, Testimony, and Unsaying

March 1, 2012

There is a certain ambiguity in Levinas when he says ‘Other’. By ‘Other’ he means the human Other although what he says also applies to the Infinite Other (God). There is an absolutely Infinite Other who is other than the human Other, however the two are so intimately related that the Infinite Other (God) is also in the human Other. The infinite Other (God) is not fully captured in the human Other because the human Other cannot imprison the Infinite. The Absolute Infinite (God) is not like a topic or theme which one can grasp and completely understand, but is instead a certain trace, of which we can only glimpse.

God’s trace is not an appearance or a phenomenon, in the sense that it is an uncovering or disclosure because it’s not just something given to perception nor is it a matter of knowledge. God’s presence is not a total manifestation, but only a glimpse or a trace. It is through us and through the human Other that God makes ‘manifest’. The infinite is ‘felt’ when, in the presence of the Other, the I says “Me-here-for-you.”The more I become just and responsible, the more I show the presence of God. God is invisible to the senses, we don’t see apparitions. However, we see people comforting and being responsible to Others.

When one does good, he cannot say “I have done all my duty.” Like the exigency for holiness and excellence, the ethical demand cannot be completed or finished. Emphasized here is difference between satis (from satis-fied) and magis. We are all called to be magis and therefore the person who does good knows that there is more good to be done.

 

Illeity

Certain Jewish prayers start addressing God using the personal ‘you’ or ‘thou.’ However, as the prayer progresses, the address to God becomes more distant and the prayer begins to refer to God as “ille,” which is the third person. Ille is the Latin form for the third person.

Ille is a form of address that shows that the person is tries to show that God has already passed on, and is already ahead. One cannot catch up with him and therefore God cannot be boxed. Because God is transcendent, already ahead, and is only a trace, the way he is manifested is through the testimony of human beings who do the good. When the subject says “Me here for you,” the person is giving witness and is thus testifying to the Infinite. The Greek word for witness is the same word from which we get the word martyr. The martyr gives witness to God and shows witness to God because he is willing to die for that which he believes in. The glory of God consists in retreating and so making the human being an image of his creativity.

 

Saying and Unsaying

We are doing something very paradoxical. The whole philosophy 102 venture has thus been an indiscretion with regard to the unsayable. The real essence of Levinas’ philosophy is not to remain as content in the mind, but to be lived out in action.  Through Levinas we learn many terms and concepts and we will perhaps forget all of these. It’s important to talk about ethics just as, from time to time, you must say to your loved ones “Mahal kita.” But love is not just in the uttering of the words, but in the doing.  Philosophy must be unsaid; that is, philosophy should not only remain on the conceptual level. When you are helping someone you do not think of Levinasian terms, you simply help the other.

The unsaying would be like this: “How do we make God come through us?” This is the very creativity of God, that precisely he uses me, a crooked instrument, to write straight, because I have the capacity of letting him through. This is testimony and witnessing.  Even if one does not believe in God, one can still do the good.