是其之所是（Essence）與無是／無私（Desinteressement）

Essence et Désintéressement

在《整體與無限》之後，列維納斯1974年發表的《異於去是，或，超越是其之所是》應被視為其最重要的哲學著作。此書提出的乃是一有關主體之如何為主體的理論。凡物皆「去是其之所是」（本質），皆堅持在其所是之中。因此，世界乃是眾去是之間的戰爭，而和平則僅為權衡利害的眾「去是其之所是者」相互達成的權宜之計。而主體雖亦一為是，但其亦為「是其之所是」這一似乎「至大無外」的秩序之中的「例外」。而其例外之處即在於，在主體或我能成就其同一性與對於自身的意識之前，它已然被暴露於他者所帶來的無情震創。他者在主體或我尚不可能有任何「準備」之時即已要求我做出應答，而我之無條件的應答則即已為我對他者之無條件的應承。我作為我乃是他者之人質。我作為我即以己代人受難。因為有我，去是或存在（存有）才有了意義。正因為我即是對於他者之應承，才可能有道德，法律與正義。

After Totality and Infinity, Levinas’ Otherwise than Being or beyond Essence (1974) should be regarded as his most important philosophical work, in which a theory of subjectivity, or how the subject is what it is, is formulated. Every being is what it is, hence persists in its being. Thus, the world is a war among beings; peace is only an expedience made among beings which calculate their own interests. The subject is indeed a being, but it is also an ex-ception in the order of Being, which is supposed to leave nothing outside of it. The ex-ceptionality of subjectivity lies in that the subject, or the I, before achieving its identity and becoming a self-consciousness, already has been exposed to the merciless trauma inflicted by the other, who demands my response before I can ever be properly “prepared.” My response, which is unconditional, is already an unconditional responsibility for the other. I am the hostage of the other; I substitute myself for the suffering of others. It is because there is an I that Being can take on its meaning. That there can ever be things such as morality, the law and justice is because the I itself, as it is constituted, is already a responsibility for the other.