The Family

by Francine Seno

One of our recent topics in Theo131 is the subject of family, and how very family-centric our culture is. In many ways, the family is always seen to be the center and the number one priority of one’s life. For most of us, family always comes first and others may be willing to do almost anything to secure the family. What Theology teaches is that the family, as a social unit, should not be “closed off” in itself. The love between parents and children should flow outward into the wider community: in social, political and communal duties. The family, having a social mission, a responsibility, is called to reach out and go beyond itself. I can relate this way of looking at the family to the Law of the I and the Other. Sometimes there is too much of a focus on the family, on family ties, that we tend to close ourselves off and create barriers that separate us from the bigger community, the bigger world. There is an overemphasis on the priority to provide, to please, to be-for-our-families that we forget about our social responsibilities outside of the family. Even if the family can be seen as the “other” that we are reaching out towards, we are still stuck in the Law of the I because that reaching out somehow still goes back to us, to the I – the family is seen as an extension of one’s ego. While family ties are important, we should also remember that we should be able to translate the love fostered and shared in our homes to the wider society, and to assume responsibility to the Other outside of the family. “To be human is to be responsible for the Other whom I do not choose.”

You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover

by Mark Cinco

31 January 2013
Discussed Text: Levinas, "The Face," Ethics and Infinity


Philo class has always been one of those subjects where I get the time to understand more about the things I ponder upon. I’m the type of person who always observes my surroundings and asks myself how that something that I saw came to be or what its characteristics are. I also look for a concrete answer rather than believing that a greater Being was the cause for it. The hardest thing that I can think about is the existence of the people that I see in my surroundings. Our lecture on The Face has helped me make more logical assumptions or theories as to what that Other is. I say ‘logical’ because during my early teenage life, I asked myself if it was plausible if I’m the only Being that has the capacity to think and that the people around me, including my family, are just being controlled by a greater being. It’s a bit funny to think that I arrived at an assumption as silly as that;but of course, even understanding The Other as Face is also in itself, difficult for a normal student such as myself.

I’m happy that we tackled this topic because it got to answer a lot of the things that I thought about in the past on the existence of others. Through observation, the first think that I notice, as how others do, is the physical characteristics. The study on The Face clearly tells us to gaze upon the other because its reality is both seen and unseen. To know more about the other, given the chance, try to be friends with that other so as to learn more about that person. Becoming friends or at least be acquainted with them is the first step to understanding the Being of that person. It is true that we cannot fully synthesize any person because we cannot fully learn everything about that person. So whenever I hear people say that they know a person so well that they can predict their next action or decision, I tell myself that they are wrong because that person they accuse of knowing is capable of things beyond their knowledge on that person.

Another important aspect of The Face is that the meaning comes from the other but not from me. An example I can give is parents who want their children to pursue a career like theirs. Though there are still parents who think like this, I believe that it is wrong for them to tell their children how they should live their life. Every person has an equal chance of giving their own meaning to their lives. Letting others do that will eventually make a person live a sad life. This is why we should not define a person based on who or what he/she is but experience who that person is. It is through this experience where we can truly understand more because the reality of the other puts us into question. It is also not a good practice to look at a person such as “the son of”, “friend of”, etc… because this will have an effect on how we look at this person.
With all the concepts learned from the discussion about The Face, I believe I can become more understanding on who a person is, how he/she came to be, or how that person acts. I think I’ll be more open to more logical theories and assumptions as I continue to think more about myself and the Other. Truly, you can’t judge a book by its cover.