성경적 맥락에서 살펴본 레비나스의 윤리학과 트웨인의『허클베리 핀의 모험』 연구

Abstract

Levinas's ethics is distinguished from other ethics and the traditional Western philosophy in that it seeks the meaning of a human subject in its relation to the Other. According to Levinas, the Other is absolutely different from the self, and the alterity of the Other is manifested in its face. Since the face presents itself directly without context, it resists the grasp of the self. Therefore, the face is beyond the finite perception and understanding of the self. When the face, in which the Other appears, presents itself, it commands the self to take its ethical responsibility. And when the self is obliged, there occurs a transition from the ego-centered identity to the moral subject. The self finds the true meaning of its subjectivity. In explaining the relation between the Other and the self, Levinas takes an example from the Ten Commandments of the Bible. He says, "The first word of the face is the 'Thou shalt not kill.' It is an order. There is a commandment in the appearance of the face, as if a master spoke to me" (Ethics and Infinity 89). Given that Levinas is under the strong influence of the Bible as a Jewish philosopher, it is helpful to examine his ethics in the light of the Bible. For example, the story of the good Samaritan in the Bible helps us better understand why the self cannot evade the responsibility for the Other. Therefore, this paper aims to study Levinas's ethics in the biblical context and read Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from this point of view. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain employs a 14-year-old boy, Huck, as the hero. Huck is described to be immature and passive at first. He reveals a naive perception of the social reality and runs away from the society avoiding the violence of his father. However, as he travels along the Mississippi River with Jim, a getaway slave, Huck undergoes change in his character. Among others, Jim plays an important role in this. What happens one foggy night is significant in the development of Huck's character and in relation to Levinas's ethics as well. This provides Huck with a chance that he experiences Jim as the Other, which awakens the moral sense existing in the deep inside of Huck. As a result, he becomes an active subject who rejects the values of the society to which he once belonged and takes the moral responsibility for the Other in critical moments. From this point of view, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn seems to demonstrate what Levinas argues through his ethics.