BETWEEN TRACES: PRELUDE TO TWO THOUGHTS OF OTHERNESS

Abstract

Jacques Derrida and Emmanuel Levinas, in their respective philosophical approaches, emphasize that the model of thought and language proposed by Western philosophy has resulted in a violent reduction in the understanding and communication of reality and human relationships, due to the persistent emphasis on categories such as presence and identity. Faced with this situation, Derrida and Levinas propose to disarticulate the primacy of identity as the exclusive holder of knowledge and language. Additionally, they question the pretension of discourse on totality that seeks to reduce the world, relationships, and the transcendent to the primacy of consciousness. As a result, the philosophers have rejected the status of philosophies of presence in the philosophical tradition, presenting common foundations for another way of doing philosophy. Drawing from the analysis of Emmanuel Levinas's article "The Trace of the Other" and Jacques Derrida's book "Margins of Philosophy," this article aims to demonstrate how the notion of the trace allows for latent intertextuality in the thought of these authors. The trace is not limited to being a simple mark left by the other or a purely physical vestige. Instead, it urges us to go beyond any obvious sign and realize that, in the context of deconstruction and the ethics of responsibility, the trace points to a different conception of temporality. Furthermore, both philosophers explore the notion of the trace, indicating a radical alterity that eludes apprehension, whether through language or ethical relation. This alterity is conceived as an absolute and irreducible difference. Thus, by introducing the notion of trace, the philosophers invite us to welcome the wholly other (tout autre), which eludes our conventional conceptions. They urge us to recognize the complexity and richness of human relationships and the reality that surrounds us.