Listening to the Otherness of the Other: Envisioning Listening Based on a Hermeneutical Reading of Lévinas

Abstract

The aim of this article is to elucidate the essence of listening through a hermeneutical reading of the works of philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas. This research is grounded in the human scientific caring tradition that is founded on an ethical order and explicitly theoretical framework. Listening as an ethical bearing is interpreted as a desire to follow the inner essential decision to take human responsibility seriously, to put oneself at risk, and as a promise to serve the vulnerable and unique Other in his or her otherness. Listening invites the individual to see and to respond to the Other's address and thereby to welcome the holy and the infinite in a world where all human beings are tied together into a common humanity.

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank Marinella Rodi-Risberg, PhD, for the English translation of the article.