La separazione "assoluta": Levinas e la necessità dell'ateismo

The article analyzes the issue of atheism in Levinas's thought, with particular reference to "Totality and Infinity" and to the conference entitled "La Séparation". The theme of atheism constitutes a fundamental theoretical aspect in Levinasian philosophy, since it is connected to the separation of the subject, which does not represent the antithesis but the very condition of religion. Basing himself on the notion of separation, Levinas contrasts the figure of the saint with that of the sacred, which instead involves a participation with the transcendent. The article then examines the reasons why Levinas affirms the necessity of atheism in order to access transcendence.