A anarquia imemorial do mundo – Levinas e a ética da substituição

Abstract

The notion of substitution is at the heart of Levinas’s philosophy. The desire of the infinite – which drives the way we think – is expressed in the formula: having-the-other-in-one’s-skin. According to Levinas, that is the reason why there are many of us in the world. The substitution sustains the world, but such idea cannot be seen as groundwork. Considering Levinas’s metaphysics, Being is an issue that exceeds the principles of philosophical groundwork or condition of possibility. Being precedes the beginning in the same way as the-other-in-one’s-skin formula is not a subjective condition. It is the uncondition of thinking since responsibility has always existed: world’s time immemorial anarchy. KEY WORDS – Ethics. Substitution. Subjectivity. Immemorial anarchy. Desire of the infinite.