Verantwortung als Theosis? Emmanuel Lévinas’ Ethik und die Theologie der Ikon

Responsibility as Theosis? Emmanuel Lévinas’ Ethics and the Theology of the Icon: This study explores a surprising dialogue between Emmanuel Lévinas’ philosophy of the face and the Byzantine theology of the icon. For Lévinas, the face of the Other is not a mere physical appearance but the epiphany of the Infinite, calling forth an unconditional responsibility “older than freedom”. In Eastern Christian tradition, the icon—especially the face of Christ—is likewise more than representation: it is a theophanic presence, a “window to heaven”, grounded in the Incarnation. Both perspectives resist reducing the face to an object, instead seeing it as the site of revelation, presence through absence, and ethical summons. While Lévinas frames this in a philosophical-ethical register and icon theology in a theological-liturgical one, each affirms that encountering the face—human or divine—opens the horizon of transcendence and calls for transformation. This convergence suggests a shared anthropology where ethics and contemplation meet in the lived experience of responsibility.