Abstract

Levinas ̓s work is explicitly placed within the heritage of the Phenomenological school. Nevertheless, he repeatedly uses notions drawn from the religious tradition, especially Jewish, up to the point of stating that Judaism is a “category of being”. This paper analyses the role of Judaism as a category, beginning with a reconstruction of this notion in the most influential authors within Levinas’s philosophy. Finally, the role and meaning that this categorial structure take on in Levinas will be shown, through the examination of four main components: the exposition of alterity as separation and glory; the relationship of responsibility as election and substitution; the understanding of temporality as creation and redemption; and the prophetical understanding of language.