What is it about?
This work examines how the notion of the infinite challenges the idea of totality in philosophical thought. Drawing from phenomenological and ethical frameworks, the article argues that the infinite cannot be fully encompassed or totalized by human cognition or systems. This "defunding" or deconstruction of totality opens up a space for ethical considerations that are not confined by closed systems or absolute structures. The infinite, in this context, serves as a foundation for ethics by introducing an element that transcends complete understanding, thereby necessitating a response to the 'Other' that is not predicated on total comprehension or domination.
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Why is it important?
The significance of this article lies in its contribution to contemporary ethical discourse. By positioning the infinite as a counterpoint to totality, the article provides a framework for ethics that is responsive to the complexity and unpredictability of human relations. This approach challenges traditional ethical models that rely on fixed principles or universal laws, advocating instead for an ethics grounded in openness and the recognition of the unknowable aspects of others. Such a perspective is particularly relevant in today's pluralistic societies, where encounters with diverse worldviews and experiences demand an ethical stance that is flexible and responsive rather than prescriptive.
Perspectives
“If God does not exist, everything is permitted.” “If God exists, everything is permitted.” Intuitively, it seems that at least one of these two epigraphs that open this essay must be wrong. Either Dostoevsky or Žižek. Yet, there is also the possibility that both are mistaken and, if we move beyond the logic that all intuitions carry, it might be the case that both are right. Although determining the validity of these statements is not the objective here, it is nonetheless interesting, for the purposes of this research, to draw attention to the substantial link that exists in these affirmations between the divine and what has come to be called the permissible.
Gabriel Leiva Rubio
Universitat de Barcelona
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This page is a summary of: La idea de infinito: un desfundar lo total y fundar lo ético, Recerca Revista de pensament i anàlisi, February 2024, Universitat Jaume I,
DOI: 10.6035/recerca.7207.
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