The Journal of Educational Research
Online ISSN : 2424-1849
Print ISSN : 1349-5836
ISSN-L : 1349-5836
Article
Examining the Implication of Lévinas’s Conception of Subjectivity for Educational Study from the Perspective of Temporality
Yuhei ANJIKI
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2017 Volume 20 Pages 1-10

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Abstract

In educational study, an encounter with the Other is seen as an important moment in ethical growth. Through the encounter, the Other is said to challenge one's existing identity and give one the responsibility to react ethically. A theoretical base of this is Emmanuel Lévinas's conception of subjectivity. Based on its interpretation, many theorists hold that Lévinas discussed the process of the production of subjectivity. Educational discourses on Lévinas, however, miss the fact that he avoided considering the production of subjectivity as a process and narrative. In this paper I aim to clarify the implication of Lévinas's conception of subjectivity for educational study. The first section explains the reason behind the application of Lévinas's conception of subjectivity to educational theory and shows the tendency of the application. Educational discourses on Lévinas's subjectivity have the tendency to focus on the openness and passivity of the self; thus, they miss the temporality. The second section clarifies how educational theorist Clarence Joldersma reconsiders the educational relationship by applying Lévinas's conception of subjectivity. To elucidate Lévinas's treatment of the production of subjectivity, the third section shows his attempt to discuss the production of subjectivity without narrative form. In the fourth section, it turns out that Lévinas allows various interpretations of his conception of subjectivity, and our interpretations complement his conception. His conception of subjectivity implies that educational theorists need to consider the self-contradictory character of an argument about the production of subjectivity.

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© 2017 The Chugoku-Shikoku Society for the Study of Education
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