Can justice hide betrayal? Levinas’s discussion with Freud

Article

Abstract

[In English]

Levinas places each of the philosophical or even scientific theories in the dimension created by the monotheism on the one hand, a personification of which is Judaism, and paganism on the other hand that finds shelters for itself in the shape of infinite numbers of modern rationalisations. The difference is rooted in the attitude towards violence and justice. Can justice be free of violence? Or maybe not? This conflict hides a deep philosophical and ethical controversy: can morality be free of violence, or maybe the law is always conditioned by the brutality of the force? The theories, stating that violence, even if hidden in being, always prevails, are qualified as pagan. In my paper, I will ask the question: is the severe accusation of Levinas against psychoanalysis, the accusation of paganism, justified? I will try to prove that despite many misunderstandings, there is some essential truth in this accusation.