ONTOTHEOLOGICAL TURNINGS? MARION, LACOSTE AND LEVINAS ON THE DECENTRING OF MODERN SUBJECTIVITY

AbstractIn this article, Schrijvers examines the decentering of the modern subject at issue in the thought of Emmanuel Levinas, Jean‐Luc Marion, and Jean‐Yves Lacoste from the perspective of ontotheology. Schrijvers contends that in both Marion's and Lacoste's phenomenology an unexpected return to the subject‐object distinction occurs, and asks whether a simple reversal of the subject‐object distinction suffices to break out of the ontotheological scheme. In a second move, Levinas’ account of a “relation without relation” is developed as a solution to the problem perceived in the works of Marion and Lacoste. Via a critique of Levinas, Schrijvers suggests that what is at stake in reversing the subject‐object distinction entails less an “overcoming” of ontotheology and more a matter of comporting oneself towards it in an appropriate way.