Levinas on Forgiveness

Emmanuel Levinas says we are infinitely responsible for the infinitely different other. However, he has trouble forgiving Martin Heidegger for his Nazi past. This study asks whether forgiveness is a necessary part of responsibility and suggests that the answer is yes if we are indeed infinitely responsible to the other. This is important because once responsibility is redefined as other than infinite, its moral authority can be eroded by degree.

Keywords: Responsibility; forgiveness; Emmanuel Levinas; Martin Heidegger; Mishna; Talmud, Gemara.