The il y a and the Labyrinth

by Kathleen Sun

I wonder how many hours we spend imagining the great things that we will do, the places we will go, and people we will meet someday. But unfortunately for many of us, we never actually get to do any of these things and they will forever remain only in our imagination. We find ourselves stuck in the “labyrinth”, caught up in the repetitive and technical cycle of today’s world. We are afraid to go out and to be ourselves because of the feeling of security and familiarity in just doing what everyone else is doing. We know that there is something more we want to do, and something greater that we can offer to the world, but instead, we settle on the routines and patterns that we are used to.

Why is this so? I think this is what Levinas refers to as the “Il y a”. It is the refusal to be separated and different from everyone else. It is an inner struggle that hinders us from being unique because perhaps we fear judgment and criticism. We become willing to set ourselves aside because we do not take charge of the situation, and thus we miss out on what it truly means to be an embodied subject. Because of this, we cannot become what we really want to be. This also means that we can never find fulfillment in just living the “custom made life” laid out before us.

As humans, we have the capacity to use what we are given to the best of our abilities. And this means that we also have the capacity to escape from Il y a, and escape the labyrinth. One of the first steps in doing so is the experience of jouissance or the “innocent enjoyment”. It is through finding joy and gladness in the simple things that we slowly come to a better understanding of who we are and who we want to become. We must begin to ask ourselves why we are doing what we do so that hopefully, we can break free from the “broken world” that we find today.

Furthermore, it is also important to remember that the search for who we are is not a solitary journey. As beings in the world, we are also defined by the relationships we form and our connections with those around us. This is why Levinas insists that moving away from Il y a is only the first step. The next is the realization that we must “de-position” ourselves and to realize our responsibility for the Other. Therefore, in order to gain the ultimate fulfillment, we must find ourselves through our relationships with those around us. We find meaning not only in realizing what we need to do for ourselves, but also in knowing what we must do for others. We need people around us to teach us, guide us, and to help us grow because it is our interactions with others that truly defines our existence.