Jewish Philosophy: Derrida and Levinas - Essay Example

Keeping this in view, some philosophers have made sincere efforts to define the principles of Judaism in a more meaningful manner. The main objective of these philosophers was to revive the principles of the Jewish religion. It was also realized that the course of direction of the Jewish religion has to be tremendously changed with the advancement of the period to attract new groups of people. In this context, the efforts of Jacques Derrida and Emmanuel Levinas for reviving Judaism are noteworthy.

The main intention or aim of both philosophers is to give a new look to Judaism. Their philosophies come under the post-modern type. They differ in the following areas: Derrida is more cautious in explaining the meaning of Jewish philosophy in comparison to that of Levinas. It might be mainly because of the reason that he intends to convince the people that there appears some element of hesitation and undecidability which we cannot avoid. He is more emphasizing the truth that one cannot make the Jewish religion popular by telling untruths.

He is more open to revealing that the Jewish philosophy has some element of confusion and then tries to convince people that they have to accept it in its form. In this process, he uses the word “ relevant” translation which means that the translation of Jewish philosophy has to be done originally and accurately without any deviation (Jacques Derrida and Lawrence Venutti, 2001) At the same time, Derrida is skeptical about the successful implementation of new forms of non-violence. He is explaining the difficulty of implementing a violence-free world and his further argument was to convince people that it has become a regular practice to experience some form of violence in present-day society.

He also didn’t believe in totalism and exposed the element of suffering. He also interpreted that the affirmation of ghosts was not an ideal measure it poses a threat in the form of human violence and it obstructs the human conscience. On the other hand, Levinas concentrated on the theory that the Jewish religion can be spread effectively by way of translation, transmission, and conveyance of Jewish tradition in an easily understandable manner. Levinas believed in some form of implementation of non-violence in present-day society.

He also affirms the existence of ghosts and expresses faith in totalism. Moreover, Levinas believed that the singular and unified Judaism was not able to be translated easily and hence was not well accepted by new groups of people hence he suggested the plurality and post-modern forms of philosophy of the Jewish school of thought (Levinas, 1990). It was also conceptualized that Judaism played a crucial role in several revolutions including the Russian Revolution by infusing thoughts of human equality. At the same time, the revolution also played a crucial role in Judaism. He also propounds that Judaism is not a rigid phenomenon and it always welcomes changes as and when required.