Emmanuel Lévinas. Praise of atheism

Jan Słomka

doi:10.18778/1505-9057.59.08

Authors

Jan Słomka Prof. dr hab., University of Silesia in Katowice, Faculty of Theology, Bankowa 12, 40-007 Katowice https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1404-5109

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1505-9057.59.08

Keywords:

Lévinas, atheism, Augustine, Rahner, Tertullian

Abstract

Lévinas presents atheism as the original good condition of the soul before acknowledging or rejecting God. Such description is closely linked to the notion of separation. Man is a created being, but a separated one, self-contained, though not absolute. Even if not causa sui, he may exist on his own. The description is radically different from that by Augustine, who refers to creation as the participation of man in God. Similarly, there is an almost literal contradiction between the statement by Lévinas and the words of Tertullian, claiming that the soul is Christian by nature. A comparison of Levinas’ text with the theology of Karl Rahner also points to significant differences. Rahner presents the awareness of God as a transcendental, unthematic experience. Lévinas also states that the awareness of God is unthematic, however, he does not share Rahner’s description of the experience of God as the primary transcendental experience. According to Lévinas, God comes from outside through the face of the Other. Levinas’ analyses seem highly interesting for fundamental theology and the theology of spirituality.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Jan Słomka, Prof. dr hab., University of Silesia in Katowice, Faculty of Theology, Bankowa 12, 40-007 Katowice

Jan Słomka – Professor at the University of Silesia in Katowice, Faculty of Theology, Institute of Theology. Lecturer of patrology in Higher Theological Seminary in Lodz. In his research, he focuses on patrology, spirituality, philosophy of Levinas as a handmaid of theology, theology of Pope Francis. He published texts in journals such as “Vox Patrum”, “Śląskie Studia Historyczno-Teologiczne”, “Biblica et Patristica Thoruniensia”, “Ecumeny and Law”, “Łódzkie Studia Teologiczne” and “Studia Pastoralne”. He published scientific monographs: Pokarm i ofiara. Refleksja eucharystyczna wczesnych Ojców greckich, Archidiecezjalne Wydawnictwo Łódzkie, Łódź 2000; Nowe proroctwo. Historia i doktryna montanizmu, Księgarnia św. Jacka, Katowice 2007; Wczesnochrześcijańskie nazwy chrztu, Wydawnictwo UŚ, Katowice 2009; Historia duchowości. Czas ojców Kościoła, Wydawnictwo UŚ, Katowice 2017; Wprowadzenie do teologii katolickiej, Wydawnictwo UŚ, Katowice 2017.

References

Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. I, Against Heresies: Book IV by Irenaeus, trans. by Philip Schaff et al., https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ante-Nicene_Fathers/Volume_I/IRENAEUS/Against_Heresies:_Book_IV/Chapter_XX (access 2.11.2020).
Google Scholar

Augustine, The Confessions, trans. by Edward B. Pussey, https://faculty.georgetown.edu/jod/Englishconfessions.html (access 2.11.2020).
Google Scholar

Augustine, The Soliloquies, trans. by Rose E. Cleveland, Little, Brown, and Company, Boston 1910, https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/augustine-the-soliloquies (access 2.11.2020).
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.12987/yale/9780300238549.001.0001

Chiappini Azzolino, Amare Torah piú di Dio. Emmanuel Lévinas lettore di Talmud, Giuntina, Firenze 1999.
Google Scholar

Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, from 1911 edition of The Philosophical Works of Descartes, trans. by Elizabeth S. Haldane, Cambridge University Press.
Google Scholar

Heiddeger Martin, Sein und Zeit, elfte, unveränderte Auflage, Max Niemeyer Verlag, Tübingen 1967.
Google Scholar

Jędraszewski Marek, Hipostaza, ateista i Sługa Jahwe, czyli trzy koncepcje samotności w filozofii Emmanuela Lévinasa, “Filozofia Chrześcijańska” 2015, vol. 12, pp. 129–144.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.14746/fc.2015.12.11

Jędraszewski Marek, “Interior intimo meo”: św. Augustyn i Emmanuel Lévinas o Bogu i o człowieku, “Filozofia Chrześcijańska” 2006, vol. 3, pp. 105–154.
Google Scholar

Jędraszewski Marek, W stronę prehistorii Ja. Korespondencja między Emmanuelem Lévinasem a Simonem Decloux, “Filozofia Chrześcijańska” 2006, vol. 3, pp. 51–60.
Google Scholar

Lévinas Emmanuel, Korespondencja między Emmanuelem Lévinasem i Simonem Decloux, “Logos i Ethos” 1991, issue 1, pp. 99–110.
Google Scholar

Levinas Emmanuel, Totality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority, trans. by Alphonso Lingis, Duquesne University Press, Pittsburgh 1969.
Google Scholar

Rahner Karl, Foundations of Christian Faith: An Introduction to the Idea of Christianity, trans. by William W. Dych, Crossroad, 1982, pp. 20–21.
Google Scholar

Ricoeur Paul, Esquisse de conclusion, [in:] Exégèse et herméneutique, collectif, Paris, Seuil, 1971, pp. 285–295.
Google Scholar

Tertullian’s Defence of the Christians Against the Heathen, trans. by Alexander Souter, http://www.tertullian.org/articles/mayor_apologeticum/mayor_apologeticum_07translation.htm#59 (access 2.11.2020).
Google Scholar

Wieczorek Krzysztof, Levinas a problem metafizyki, Wydawnictwo UŚ, Katowice 1992.
Google Scholar

Zdybicka Zofia J., Partycypacja, [w:] Powszechna Encyklopedia Filozofii, t. 8, Polskie Towarzystwo Tomasza z Akwinu, Lublin 2007, http://www.ptta.pl/pef/pdf/p/partycypacja.pdf (access 2.11.2020).
Google Scholar

Elektroniczna Bibliografia Nauk Teologicznych FIDES, http://biblio.fides.org.pl/ (access 2.11.2020).
Google Scholar

Global Digital Library on Theology and Ecumenism, http://www.globethics.net/web/gtl (access 2.11.2020).
Google Scholar

Index theolgicus, http://www.ixtheo.de (access 2.11.2020).
Google Scholar

Powszechna Encyklopedia Filozofii, http://www.ptta.pl/pef (access 2.11.2020).
Google Scholar

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/ (access 2.11.2020).
Google Scholar