Being Other: Reflections on Alterity

Dror Pimentel

The notion of the Other is a key concept in in contemporary thought. As such, it is highly complex—at times even contradictory. This seminar aims to bring some order to this intricate notion by outlining its main features. As a starting point, we will examine how the figure of the Other is portrayed in phenomenology, focusing primarily on Sartre and Levinas. These two thinkers present opposing views: for Sartre, the Other is the source of the self's alienation, whereas for Levinas, the Other is the origin of the self’s creation. We will further explore related concepts such as hospitality, ethics, responsibility, and interpellation. In this context, the Other is to be welcomed with unconditional hospitality, giving rise to both ethics and the constitution of the self. We will also consider Derrida’s aporetic understanding of the Other—simultaneously a figure recognized by the law and a complete stranger to it, and a source of both violence and non-violence. Following this, we will turn to psychoanalysis, particularly the works of Freud and Lacan. We will consider how the Other functions as a mirror for the self: in Freud, reflecting the self's ideal form, and in Lacan, forming the basis of the Imaginary and later the Big Other. This discussion will include an examination, from a Marxist viewpoint, of the relationship between the figure of the Other and the concepts of the State and Ideology, as portrayed by Althusser and Žižek.