“For my dear grandson, David, this book in which he will not always recognize – and not incorrectly - the God of his fathers”: Levinas’ dedication encapsulates the issues he addresses in the thirteenth essays collected in De Dieu qui vient à l’idée ( Of God who comes to mind ). In contrast with a whole tradition of Jewish and Christian philosophy (Juda Halevi, Blaise Pascal), Levinas’ God is nor “The God of the philosophers”, neither “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”. “God” is not an object of thought or of faith, He cannot be approached nor by rational knowledge, neither through dialogue, or religious and mystical experience. Basing himself on Husserl’s phenomenology as well as on Talmudic tradition and on the writings of Rabbi Haim Voloziner, Levinas focuses on the ethical meaning encapsulated in the word “God”. Despite his quasi absence, “God” - or the absolute transcendence signified by this word - is never indifferent to the “here below”, he is never detached from “terrestrial existence and from human society”, from the place where infinite responsibility for the other is incumbent on me. In addition to his insights on “God”, Levinas deals with issues such as politics, religion and language, the Marxist concept of ideology, death, hermeneutics, the concept of evil, the philosophy of dialogue. He addresses the thought of Husserl, Heidegger, Rosenzweig, Buber, Bergson, Kierkegaard, Marx, Ernst Bloch, and Derrida.

Totality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority “Peace”, “justice”, “eschatology” and even “god” were terms considered irrelevant by many of Emmanuel Levinas’s contemporaries. However, Levians chooses to make them central to his book Totality and Infinity, drawing upon Jewish thought and accomplished scholars often brushed aside by Western philosophy. Published in1961, this book has become one of the milestones of philosophical thought in the 20th century. Levinas outlines a trail leading from egoism, or “atheism”, of the individual subject to its breaking point, which occurs upon encountering the Other, whose face produces infinity. He describes the tension between ethics and politics, conducting a critical dialogue with some of the forefathers of Western philosophy like Plato, Hegel, Buber and Heidegger. Témoignage de Thérèse Goldstein, assistante d’Emmanuel Levinas à l’ENIO (Ecole Normale Israélite Orientale, Paris ), qui a dactylographié Totalité et Infini, ainsi que l’essentiel de son œuvre entre 1953 et 1980 : «Si on avait parfois du mal à le comprendre, c’est que sa pensée était plus rapide que son élocution. Son écriture était aussi nerveuse, souvent difficile à déchiffrer. Si vous aviez vu sur quels brouillons ont été écrits Totalité et Infini ou Difficile Liberté ! Il s’agissait aussi bien de dos d’enveloppes, de bas de bons de commandes ou du moindre morceau de papier vierge. Je devais souvent tourner la feuille dans tous les sens pour retrouver la fin des phrases. Il utilisait son stylo plume rechargeable – surtout pas à cartouches, elles s’épuisaient trop vite ! – Il écrivait beaucoup, corrigeait énormément, biffait, découpait, faisait des collages. Il n’arrêtait que lorsque le texte traduisait sa pensée avec exactitude… » « Il me donnait ses manuscrits, je les tapais, il me corrigeait, il n’était jamais satisfait de ce qu’il faisait. Un jour, il a osé me demander si je trouvais çà bien ! »