The difficulty of being: A partial reading of E. Levinas, De l'existence à l'existant

Emmanuel Levinas’ 1947 book De l’existence à l’existant proposes an existential phenomenology that departs from the one lain down in Martin Heidegger’s Being and Time. It is possible to organize a reading of Levinas’ text around his analysis of ‘fatigue’, considered the nodal point for his original accounts of being, human being, meaning and desire. Close attention to the text clarifies the fundamental stake of Levinas’ well-known opposition to Heidegger, and opens the way for a fresh look at Heidegger’s own key theme of anxiety. However, Levinas’ position also appears to admit a series of additions or perhaps qualifications. Three of these are sketched, by way of conclusion and as a proposal for further research.