see the plural as an invitation to a totalizing dialectic, the “We”
underscores its “dialogical” nature. The ethic seems satisfied with agree-
ment rather than bent on knock-down demonstrations.
When asked what he means today by “ethics” (La morale), Sartre
responds: “there is adimension of obligationin each consciousness, a kind
ofrequisitioningthat goes beyond the real; a kind of inner constraint that
is a dimension of consciousness (conscience)...And that for me,” he
adds, “is the beginning of the moral...In my opinion, each conscious-
ness has thismoral dimensionthat one never analyzes but which I would
like us to analyze.” After explaining that this self-consciousness is also
consciousness-for-another, he adds the insightful remark that this
self considering itself as self for-the-other (soi-meˆme pour l’autre) “is
what I call conscience [(la conscience morale].”^52 Not coincidentally, it
bears a distinctively Levinassian mark. Benny Le ́vy was especially inter-
ested in the work of Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Levinas during his
“Orthodox” years. Bernard-Henri Le ́vy concludes his assessment of this
controversy with the assertion that “the last Sartre...was a Levinassian
obviously, indisputably and profoundly.”^53
The differences, their nature and significanceThese can be summarized briefly in three remarks fromHope Now, each
of which challenges or at least qualifies his previous positions.
First, “obligation” now emerges as the specific feature of moral
consciousness (as Sartre admits, this is a difficult term which he
refuses to define but which seems roughly synonymous with “exigence,”
“requisition,” and “inner constraint” (Hope 69 – 71 ). It is significant that
Sartre fails to mention the terms “unconditional” or even “norm,”
though they were essential to his dialectical ethic. In fact, the term
“dialectic” is missing from the index of the book.
Second, the issue of humanism recurs when Sartre simply denies that
he is a humanist. In fact, he speaks of moving “beyond” humanism,
(^52) Cited by “L’Exigence” 567 – 568. This me ́lange of lines from the articles inLe Nouvel
observateurrecur inHope, on pages 69 – 71. As Van den Hoven remarks in the translator’s
note, “It must not be forgotten that Benny Le ́vy made a significant number of changes and
additions to the version published in book form asL’Espoir maintenant”( 43 ). In this case,
53 however, the quotations in the book faithfully render the journal article.
Le ́vy,Sartre. The Philosopher of the Twentieth Century, 495.
Sartre’s third, “Dialogical” ethics 379