THE PROBLEM OF BODY IN THE EARLIEST WRITINGS BY LEVINAS

Assuming that the problem of corporeality is one of the most important components of Lévinas' philosophy, the author turns his attention to three Lévinas' essays - though earliest but original and independent - to analyze the emergence of that problem: 'La notion de la spiritualité dans les cultures française et allemande' (1933), 'Quelques réflexions sur la philosophie de l'hitlérisme' (1934), and 'De l'évasion' (1935). Analyses show that Lévinas' ambivalence towards the philosophical meaning of corporeality, in his first and second essay, results from the historical and ideological context, in which that problem appeared in Germany. Analysis of some phenomena dealing with human body, developed in the third essay, shows that Lévinas calls into question the priority of ontological order. This philosophical attitude is especially well-known from his mature work.