Relating to Mortality. The Question of Death in Levinas and Heidegger

Essay from the year 2019 in the subject Philosophy - Miscellaneous, grade: 63 (70 being distinction), Staffordshire University, language: English, abstract: The question of death is addressed through the philosophy of the Other in Levinas and the philosophy of Being in Heidegger. Levinas contests Heideggerian ontology as first philosophy and presents an ethical account to re-work themes that are related to the conception of death in the ontological approach. Adopting ethics as first philosophy, Levinas prioritises the Other over the Heideggerian Being, thus, attempting to traverse the ontological difference. Accordingly, the essential aim of the Levinasian philosophy is then, attaining meaning that ¿ontology does not exhaust¿ (GDT). Thus the philosophy of Levinas originates from the need to face ¿the epic of being¿, and go beyond it, rescue the radical Other: ¿To reduce every philosophical effort to the error or errancy of onto-theo-logy is only one possible reading of the history of philosophy¿ (ibid.).