The main focus of this article is the relationship between action and knowledge in philosophical thought and the critical issues related to the prevalence of one over the other. On the one hand, the perspective of ancient ethical intellectualism in which action is subordinate to knowledge does not adequately account for the moral importance of the passions. On the other hand, an opposite prevalence of action over knowledge, as in the case of postmodernism, can lead to nihilistic outcomes (e. g. post-truth ). In this contribution we intend to propose a possible answer through the analysis of Emmanuel Levinas’ thought. His entire reflection aims to affirm the primacy of ethics over ontology, through the face of the Other. This aspect is particularly evident in his commentary to the biblical passage «We will do and we will hear» (Ex 24:7), in which Levinas emphasizes precisely the urgency of an immediate response to the call of the Other. What is the role of knowledge in this perspective? We will show that, far from being devalued, knowledge discovers its ethical inspiration and is guided by it.

"Faremo e ascolteremo". Il rapporto tra agire e sapere nel pensiero di Emmanuel Levinas

Silvia Dadà
2022-01-01

Abstract

The main focus of this article is the relationship between action and knowledge in philosophical thought and the critical issues related to the prevalence of one over the other. On the one hand, the perspective of ancient ethical intellectualism in which action is subordinate to knowledge does not adequately account for the moral importance of the passions. On the other hand, an opposite prevalence of action over knowledge, as in the case of postmodernism, can lead to nihilistic outcomes (e. g. post-truth ). In this contribution we intend to propose a possible answer through the analysis of Emmanuel Levinas’ thought. His entire reflection aims to affirm the primacy of ethics over ontology, through the face of the Other. This aspect is particularly evident in his commentary to the biblical passage «We will do and we will hear» (Ex 24:7), in which Levinas emphasizes precisely the urgency of an immediate response to the call of the Other. What is the role of knowledge in this perspective? We will show that, far from being devalued, knowledge discovers its ethical inspiration and is guided by it.
2022
Dadà, Silvia
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
S. Dadà, Faremo e ascolteremo. Il rapporto tra agire e sapere nel pensiero di Emmanuel Levinas, Studia Philosophica, 2022, 81 ISBN 078-3-7965-4629-7.pdf

accesso aperto

Tipologia: Versione finale editoriale
Licenza: Creative commons
Dimensione 85.42 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
85.42 kB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11568/1160220
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact