摘要：Drew Dalton' s analysis in Longing for the Other does the much needed work of situating Levinas alongside other figures in the canon of Western philosophy.1In so doing, he raises the kinds of questions through which we get a clear picture of the uniqueness of Levinas' philosophical position. By juxtaposing his account of metaphysical desire alongside thinkers like Plato, Heidegger and Fichte (to name a few), Dalton establishes the sense in which Levinas is both of the tradition and in dialogue with the tradition, but from precisely the "outside." Given the way Levinas conceptualizes the difference between desire and need, one wonders if desire (on Levinas' terms) can ever be anything other than metaphysical. Said otherwise, his position seems to be that desire categorically stands on (or, at the very least, prepares the way for) a radical breaking up of interiority onto that which is beyond. Dalton illustrates this quite successfully in his analysis. He traces the opposition between desire and what might be more accurately described as a relation across need, establishing that the latter presupposes a kind of inner life that, though not complete, projects toward a fulfillment of itself, or seeks a larger and more enriched version of itself. There is no object of my desire upon which my identity could "feed" in this kind of way. As he brings Levinas into dialogue with Plato' s account of eros, Dalton illustrates the sense in which desire "desires" that which is not only " outside" the subject, but more importantly, beyond the subject as well.
