The Basis of Linguistics of Face in Levinas's Moral Philosophy

Document Type : Scientific & Research

Authors

• Mahmoud Abbasi ¹
• Seyed Ahmad Fazeli ²
• Muhammad Asghari ³

¹ Philosophy student, Qom University, Qom, Iran

² Assistant Professor, Department of Moral Philosophy, Faculty of Theology, University of Qom, Qom, Iran

³ Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, Tabriz University, Tabriz, Iran

10.22067/epk.2024.87496.1326

Abstract

Emmanuel Levinas is considered one of the most important philosophers of the modern era. The importance of his philosophy is evident in ethics. In Levinas's moral philosophy, the subject-centeredness is removed from priority and the "other" and their "face" are prioritized, in such a way that the other's face indicates moral messages and the subject, upon receiving these moral messages, feels a duty to consider themselves accountable and responsible to the other. But the question is, what is the meaning of "face" in facing the other in Levinas's moral philosophy? And on what basis can its moral aspect be justified? In the structuralism and semiotics of philosophers such as Ferdinand de Saussure, external matters in the real world are signs, and these signs take on meaning within the scope of the subject's mental concepts and categories. This meaning is ultimately reduced to ontological issues. Levinas's moral philosophy, however, is a kind of deconstruction and rebellion against the structuralism and semiotics of philosophers like Saussure. In Levinas's moral philosophy, the face of the other is a moral sign that invites the subject to accept moral messages and take responsibility towards the other. In such a situation, moral messages and commands are not reduced to ontological issues. It seems that Levinas is trying to justify the moral aspect of the face on the basis of linguistics.

Keywords

• subject
• other
• face
• basis of justification
• moral messages
• linguistics

Main Subjects

• Islamic Philosophy and Kalam

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©2025 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

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