Levinas’s concept of the ‘there is’ passed into Blanchot’s work

Evidence

‘Il y a’: Levinas, On Escape, 52, 56, 66–7. Levinas developed the ideas further in ‘Il y a’, an article of 1946 incorporated into De l’existence à l’existant (Existence and Existents) in 1947. His friend Maurice Blanchot also used the concept. — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 1358

Categorization

• XREF: Points to Levinas’s ‘il y a’ as his distinctive existential notion distinct from Heidegger’s Dasein — worth chasing as a contrast case for orientation to the movement. — connects to: Levinas described the ‘there is’ as emptiness that feels full — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 1359
• QUESTION: The ‘il y a’ idea — anonymous, horrifying being — is a concept that could be elaborated further to map how Levinas diverged from Heidegger and Sartre.

Broader Connections

• Levinas described the ‘there is’ as emptiness that feels full #expands (0.85) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 1359