形上學與超越

Metaphysics and Transcendence

列維納斯1961年《整體與無限》（Totality and Infinity）可視為其倫理論述景色中第一座重要地標（landmark）。此書廣受學者引用與評論，是任何有志研究列式他者哲學第一本必讀之書。第一篇章〈形上學與超越〉（Metaphysics and Transcendence）奠定其哲學論述的基調。在此篇章中，列維納斯試圖顛覆古典哲學迄今以來的本體論霸權傾向，而極力開拓他者哲學的論述空間。他將倫理學引入哲學領域，探索一種形而上永無止盡的慾望，以對任何霸權做最終極的抵制。此慾望的根源始於他者自身之他異性（alterity），永恆召喚自我先驗的道德意識。換言之，所建立的「他者」關係迫使「自我」不斷將認同整體化的傾向，轉向面對絕對他者的臉龐，並在服膺其至高無上的命令過程中，超越自身有限與封閉的視域，重劃「同者」（the same）與「他者」（the other）間的界線，以期能對弱勢他者付出無盡的具體關懷。

Totality and Infinity (1961) is considered the first landmark of Emmanuel Levinas’s writings on ethics, and is accordingly the first must-read for those who are interested in his philosophy. It has been widely cited and critiqued by a number of distinguished scholars. Above all, its first chapter, “Metaphysics and Transcendence,” sets up the fundamental tone of his philosophical discourse. In this chapter, Levinas attempts to subvert the ontological tendency of classical philosophy and to open up a novel discursive space for philosophizing about the Other. He intervenes in the domain of philosophy with an epistemology of Ethics, in which he asserts that an everlasting metaphysical desire ensures the ultimate resistance against any form of domination. This desire, originating from the alterity of the Other, eternally evokes the transcendental moral consciousness of the Self. In other words, the relationship with the Other impels the Self to re-adjust the ontological tendency of identity and to submit the Self to the supreme demand of the Absolute Other through the face of the Other. Through this infinite process of responding to the Other’s demand, the Self is able to transcend one’s finite and closed horizon, and re-delimits the border between the same and the other in order to care everlastingly for the Other.