Time, Finiteness and Infinity: The Real Theme of Levinas' Conversation with Heidegger

Levinas’ first major work, Totalité et infini was published in 1961. When readers became aware of its thrust, Levinas was nicknamed “the anti-Heidegger.” Yet throughout his life he contin ued to engage in a dialogue with Heidegger. In the course of time he apparently could no longer miss this powerful motor, which had once provided an initial impulse for his philosophy. Heidegger’s thought has left many traces in Levinas’ philosophy. These traces are the subject of this opening chapter, which can also be read as an introduction to Levinas. For the dialogue between Heidegger and Levinas addresses fundamental themes in Levinas’ philosophy, such as the relationship between the finite and the infinite, and the relationship between the self and the other.