Tullio A. Maranhão

Heidegger and Lévinas in the Amazon Forest

After a period of enfatuation with Heidegger's philosophy, affected by the events of the WW II, Levinas started to distance himself from the ontology of Being, and to move his own thinking in the direction of ethics. To what extent is Heidegger's characterization of Dasein incompatible with Lévinas's principle of responsibility for the Other? In this presentation, I will discuss several aspects of the controversy between Heidegger and Lévinas, and bring the discussion to the beliefs and practices of Amazonian Amerindians. I will argue the connection between the ontic level of the Indians' everydayness and the ontological dimension of their transcendental quest for divinity and for immortality. I will examine the cultural and historical intertwining between violence against the Other and care (Sorge, Besorge) and responsibility for the Other in the thought of the two philosophers and in Amerindian beliefs and practices.

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Tullio Albuquerque Maranhão ist Professor an der University of Saint Thomas, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA. Seine interdisziplinären Arbeiten decken ein Spektrum zwischen Philosophie und Anthropologie ab.