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Document Details : Title: Les figures du féminin et la question de la sensibilité dans l'œuvre de Levinas Author(s): PAVAN, Chiara Journal: Etudes phénoménologiques - Phenomenological Studies Volume: 7 Date: 2023 Pages: 145-172 DOI: 10.2143/EPH.7.0.3291058 Abstract : The theme of the feminine is a very controversial aspect of the work of Levinas. Not only because of the difficulty of understanding Levinas’ descriptions of the feminine, but also because of his somewhat awkward association of the feminine to a lack of meaning, to an erotical being or to a diminished form of otherness. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the three ways in which Levinas describes the feminine, from the eros of Time and the Other to the maternity of Otherwise than Being, in order to understand their mutual relations and the reasons that justify Levinas’ terminological choices. This analysis reveals that the feminine is the name Levinas uses to describe the relation to otherness accomplished through sensibility. Accordingly, the variations in the theme of the feminine must be understood as the consequence of the transformations of Levinas’ analysis of sensibility. The final considerations of this article stress that, even if the term «feminine» is related to biology, the description exceeds biological restrictions. |
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