qu\'est autrui par sa présence même - that the Other is making on us by his or her simple presence ( translation glossary) Philosophy,Art/Literary

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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

French term or phrase:	qu'est autrui par sa présence même
English translation:	that the Other is making on us by his or her simple presence
Entered by:	Cath Murray

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10:34am Nov 28, 2007

French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Philosophy

French term or phrase: qu'est autrui par sa présence même

I'm having a hard time understanding this sentence: "Chez [Levinas] le visage devient le symbole de l'Autre, qui fait de chacun de nous un otage sommé de répondre à la sollicitation qu'est autrui par sa présence même."

In Levinas' work, the face becomes a symbol of the Other--an Other who makes of each of us a hostage called upon to answer the appeal...

Paul Frank

KudoZ activity
Questions: 78 (all closed)
Answers: 37

Switzerland

...that the Other is making on us by his simple presence

Explanation:
This provides the meaning, but it doesn't sound great. You could turn the whole last part of the sentence around... I will have a go and get back to you.

I am not familiar with Levinas, but this reminds me of something similar in Sartre ;)

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Note added at 19 mins (2007-11-28 10:54:00 GMT)
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An idea for turning it around: "... the face becomes a symbol of the Other, whose very presence constitutes an appeal to which we, as hostages, are called upon to respond.

I'm just not sure about the "as hostages" part - I wonder whether it doesn't sufficiently convey the idea that it is the face as a symbol of the Other that is turning us into these "hostages".

Good luck, in any case!

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Note added at 1 day5 hrs (2007-11-29 16:00:12 GMT) Post-grading
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Hi Paul,
Since Carol has graciously offered to concede the points for this question (see note below), would you mind arranging this? It seems that you simply have to click on the "Call moderator to this question" button at the bottom of this page.
Thanks and regards, Cath

Selected response from:

Cath Murray
Spain

Note from asker to answerer

Thanks Cath!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +1

...that the Other is making on us by his simple presence

Cath Murray

3 +1

which is Other by its very presence; Whose very presence makes it Other

Carol Gullidge

represented by the very presence of the Other

Emma Paulay

Answers

28 mins confidence:

represented by the very presence of the Other

Explanation:
This guy sounds very sociable!

Emma Paulay
France
Native speaker of:

English

47 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

which is Other by its very presence; Whose very presence makes it Other

Explanation:

which is Other, by definition

would be a simpler, less literal, version - for clarity. But clarity doesn't seem to fit the style of this philosophy!

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Note added at 47 mins (2007-11-28 11:22:31 GMT)
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OR

Whose Otherness stems from its very presence

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Note added at 4 hrs (2007-11-28 14:43:08 GMT) Post-grading
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Hi Paul: Did you really mean to award this to me, or was it a slip of the button? If you really intended to award the points elsewhere, I gladly give you my permission, which you need in order to ask the Moderators to rectify the situation...

Carol Gullidge
United Kingdom
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thanks. This was pointed out to me. I liked this solution: "the face becomes a symbol of the Other, whose very presence constitutes an appeal to which we, as hostages, are called upon to respond".

9 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

...that the Other is making on us by his simple presence

Explanation:
This provides the meaning, but it doesn't sound great. You could turn the whole last part of the sentence around... I will have a go and get back to you.

I am not familiar with Levinas, but this reminds me of something similar in Sartre ;)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 19 mins (2007-11-28 10:54:00 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

An idea for turning it around: "... the face becomes a symbol of the Other, whose very presence constitutes an appeal to which we, as hostages, are called upon to respond.

I'm just not sure about the "as hostages" part - I wonder whether it doesn't sufficiently convey the idea that it is the face as a symbol of the Other that is turning us into these "hostages".

Good luck, in any case!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day5 hrs (2007-11-29 16:00:12 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Hi Paul,
Since Carol has graciously offered to concede the points for this question (see note below), would you mind arranging this? It seems that you simply have to click on the "Call moderator to this question" button at the bottom of this page.
Thanks and regards, Cath

Cath Murray
Spain
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

Note from asker to answerer

Thanks Cath!

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French: qu'est autrui par sa présence même

English translation: that the Other is making on us by his or her simple presence