The Ethical Signification of Prayer in Emmanuel Levinas' Philosophy

Abstract

This paper aims to elucidate the ethical signification of prayer in the light of Emmanuel Levinas' philosophy. The idea of prayer for Levinas has different interpretations depending on which work is read. While prayer is usually understood as a communicative action, the intention of the paper is to analyze a few of Levinas' confessional works regarding prayer and to interrelate them with Levinas' stance on language where ethics occur in a discourse. It explores Levinas' idea of prayer coming from his exposition of the "Soul of Life" by Rabbi Hayyim. It then discusses Levinas' notion of language and its ethical insinuation. Lastly, it highlights the commonalities between the ethical encounter and prayer within the concept of suffering, where the subject responds towards the suffering the Other. The paper concludes by reanalyzing what prayer means as the Service of the Heart as not only an elevation of the soul to God but an ethical act in responding towards the suffering Other.