by Avery Wong
22 November 2012
Discussed Text: Levinas, "There Is," Ethics and Infinity
I woke up this morning feeling extra lazy to go school. I was tempted to cut Philo today just because it is my only class. I could’ve spent my morning sleeping like a baby sloth comfortable in my own little bed, but no, I had to wake up early to attend Dr. Garcia’s class. If I had slept like that baby sloth though, I would have probably miss out on “Il y a” and enjoy the morning with the satisfaction of waking up late but later suffer at night just staring at an empty word file, “Il y a”-ing and blaming myself for not going to today’s lecture.
The first thing that came to my head when I heard “Il y a” was: “il-what?”.Levinas sounded like an African-American-Swedish rapper trying to compliment another man’s rap. “Your rap is ill,ya?” Jokes aside, to be honest, I’m not exactly sure what the “There Is” means. Levinas said that “Il y a” is not something nor is it nothing. So what is it then? After hearing all the examples in class, I’m lead to think that this tricky word, is closely related to, correct me if I’m wrong, a state/situation/position. It is not something nor is it nothingness.
It’s hard to explain it. All I can do with my limited understanding is to help give more examples to point towards “There Is”.
“There Is”is when there’s a restlessness to become more, but at the same time the dread to be a definite being. It is that middle ground, where you haven’t gone out, but another part of you wants to.Maybe most of you have this feeling of wanting to know someone but somehow you don’t want to.Maybe it’s a crush. Maybe more than 1. Or it could be that wanting to know someone just because you see that person every day. You know that feeling of seeing a person you know by face but don’t know very well, look right back feeling the same thing? Yup, “Il y a”. At that moment, you don’t know exactly what to do. A part of you wants to step out and know them or at least say “hi”, but another part of you will pull you back. That same thing happens to the other person and both of you just look away. Wondering what happened and the next moment shrug it off as if nothing did.
It could also be that moment when you have this vague image of a better self, a more creative self, but when opportunities arise, a part of you just pulls you back and you miss that opportunity. I had a lot of those Il y a moments, when I was (and still am) in a dread to perform for people, but deep inside I have this eagerness, this wanting to affect them in some way with my music.
It could also be that we try to be all but end up mastering nothing at all.That dread of not wanting to be because you might close other doors.Or even that dread of wanting to be. Half of you wants to be while the other half holds you down and reminds you that becoming entails the responsibilities that go with it. Take for example a friend asking his buddy: “Kayo na ba?..Not yet official, bakit?” when in fact that buddy of his is actually doing things not even traditional couples do that early in the relationship. You know what I mean.
All these things could be “Il y a”. Maybe some might simplify it as a “fear of”. It could be a fear of embarrassment, a fear of rejection, a fear of failure, or maybe a fear of commitment. But I think “Il y a” is more than fear or anxiety. Insomnia, according to Levinas, is an example of the “There Is” where no fear or anxiety is involved. One wants to sleep but cannot sleep. It is not the person’s own doing that he can’t sleep, nor is it not entirely his doing.There is something (but it is not really a thing nor is it nothing) that affects or is affected.
I stopped and thought to myself: “Would there even be a consideration of not wanting to be if there was no consideration of the reaction of the other?” One would most probably recite in class or talk to the teacher as if he/she is the only one in that class without others judging his answers if there were considerations of the other students. He/she would definitely BE reciting in class. So in short, I’m telling myself to not mind other people, but still, it’s hard not minding them.
The next thing to ask, I guess, is how to stand out and Exist and, not be a baby sloth (even if they’re so fuzzy and cute).So here are some of my thoughts, hope they helped or entertained you in some way.
