“Have we met before? Your face is rather familiar, but I can’t remember your name. Are you sure we haven’t met?” These are the common phrases we hear from people we have or may meet. With our recent discussions about how Levinas perceives the face, I’ve come to realize that the face really has a great impact towards a person. It made me think that why is it easy to remember the face of the person we have met in the past rather than his/her name? Perhaps the reason as to why the face is a crucial aspect is because it’s the information center in which we witness the individuality or character of the other.
We experience the other by the face and through that experience we get to be taken outside and see things in a different way. To Levinas meeting another person is a “traumatic” experience. A kind of experience, which in a way make us pause, and think of things differently as to what we thought we saw them. This experience makes us realize that there is something more than to what we perceive. Maybe this is why to Levinas the face is significant because to him.
“The face is meaning all by itself...it leads you beyond.”
Despite the face letting us experience a whole different meaning not just the sensible, there are still other people that fail. They see the other but they don’t see the other in a new frame of perspective. Even if the face present itself directly, sometimes that meaning remain invisible to some people. In order for us to see realize that we need to experience on the meaning, experience the other.
And when we do we start to realize the meaning of the other as other, seeing the other as a face and having this sense of care as to not to harm his/her even if we have just met the person. Even if we don’t know that person, through encountering the face of the other we start to have this kind of relationship on the level that without knowing the him/her we feel responsible of the other without expecting anything in return. Thus, to Levinas this is the relationship wherein
“I am subject to the Other without knowing how it will come out.”
With this level of thinking we now find meaning of being human and being concerned with the other. We start to become responsible for the other. I guess this is also what it means that to be a subject is to be responsible. I realized that the simple concept of the face does not only makes us aware of the other but also be ethical to the other.
The "Face" is by all means the first thing we attempt perceive when we meet another person. If "Eyes are the Window to the Soul" then I say, "Faces are the door to the Being". This Face we discuss so fervently in class is perhaps no more than a means to begin understanding the other.
ReplyDeleteAs you have said: "through encountering the face of the other we start to have this kind of relationship on the level that without knowing the him/her"
Merely, by acknowledging the face alone, we have elevated the one who possesses that face as someone to be of interest. True, we may still have little knowledge of that other person or perhaps the knowledge about them we thought was sufficient will turn out to be drastically lacking or downright wrong altogether. However, this "Face", this concept that has registered with us will stay, It will be there waiting as a door for us to open. This interest in the door, it opens up awareness to it's existence and thus, by having this interest, it will serve us as a drive, to know what lies beyond that door, to experience it, and to see what is hidden behind it.
- Jul Constantino PH102-C
I guess it is also important to note the importance of meeting the face rather than just seeing. What Levinas was trying to point out was another dimension of experiencing the other rather than just passively seeing it. When we experience the other's face, we delve deeper into the other and less in ourselves. We take a risk in forgetting the I for the moment and having a feel of responsibility of the other rather than just seeing the other from within our ego boundaries.
ReplyDeleteMar Tan - PH 102 (A)
I do agree when you said that by seeing other as face we are taken out of ourselves. I think this is precisely because when we see a person as face we do not objectify and totalize the person to our own ideas and concepts of him as we recognize that the Other is not an object that can be grasped, it is a reality which is constantly unfolding and constantly surprising us in many ways. We are taken out by the Other as we go beyond ourselves and ourselves, decentering ourselves, and focusing on the other.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, I would like to relate this to the concept of jouissance, the taking in to be independent. As we see the Other as face, we recognize that we can be dependent on someone else other than ourselves. As we take in these people into our lives, as we encounter them, we become more independent as we recognize that the Other is a completely opposite being, not just an extension of the I. In a way, we also recognize that we do need to do something for this other and not just for ourselves because doing something for ourselves solely will not benefit the other. The good that we do shouldnt be a case of reciprocity because this is still being dependent. The good that we do for others, we shouldnt expect in return and this illustrates the concept of independence as we do not depend on the reciprocity of Others just to do good but we good simple because we want to.
Frenchi Baluyot PH 102 A
The Face is very important to us, because "no man is an island", we definitely can't live by ourselves only, and every thing that we do include the involvement of the others. Each different and unique face in this world constantly implies to us the mystery of this world and the people inside this world that we can't really 'grasp' --- that is, to fully know or to have control or dominance over. We are in a society with the others. We study with them, play with them, live with them, laugh with them, cry with them, take selfies with them, cram with them, breathe with them. Sooner we realize that we are nothing without the people around us, that they are more important than our own and it is the others that give meaning to me, that constitute who I am today. So why should I be responsible? We can ignore, because we are free to, but it is always better to respond, not only better for the others but also for ourselves, as we develop with others as well.
ReplyDeleteSection A
I do agree with what you've said! I also noticed that sometimes people try to hide their TRUE Face. People sometimes show what others want them to see of themselves, but actually their TRUE Face is hidden. We are in a world wherein people tend to judge us for who we are and what we do. This is the reason why some people don't want others to fully know who they are. I agree that the only way to truly understand and know the Face of the person, is to experience them and to let them open up to you. These traumatic experiences help! People should stop trying to hide behind their masks and learn to trust others and accept who they really are.
ReplyDeleteLuis Tanjuatco
Ph 102 A
Some people hide their identity as a defense mechanism. Like in Hunger Games, before they entered the arena, Katniss did not reveal how great she was with arrows. Sometimes there is a fear in us that leads us to thinking that we are more vulnerable when the people see our face. It is true, though, because the face in itself is vulnerable. And that is one thing that all humans, rich and poor alike, have in common, vulnerability. It is greatly what brings us closer to each other, making us more true to life.
ReplyDeleteKate Bonamy
Ph102 A
I agree that, "Despite the face letting us experience a whole different meaning not just the sensible, there are still other people that fail. They see the other but they don’t see the other in a new frame of perspective." I mean even I don't like to think what my mother was like when she was my age. I still act all immature when my parents kiss in front of me. I can't get pass the fact that my parents could be more than mom and dad to me. It either just creeps me out or scares me to even imagine them being someone else.
ReplyDeleteJan Weslee Lim
PH 102 C