Volume 15, 2021
Levinas in Dialogue
Sergej Seitz

Pages 37-58
https://doi.org/10.5840/levinas2022102524
The Aporia of Justice: Constellations of Normativity in Honneth, Derrida, and Levinas
As Axel Honneth argues in his early essay ¡°The Other of Justice,¡± Derrida and Levinas offer convincing arguments for offsetting practical philosophy¡¯s traditional focus on justice with a focus on care. In Honneth, this leads to a strict dichotomy of justice (as equal treatment) and care (as singular responsibility). I show that Derrida and Levinas think of justice and responsibility not as dichotomic, but rather as aporetic. In all ethico-political conflicts, aspects of responsibility and justice are in play that are irreducible to, and in constant tension with, one another. Derrida and Levinas disclose a constitutive . This aporia opens up new perspectives on normativity.