A Comparative Study on the Concept of Other’s Subjectivity from the Perspective of Lacan and Levinas Focusing on the Educational Implications

The present study aims to investigate the concept of the other’s subjectivity from the perspective of Lacan and Levinas with emphasis on the moral subject and their educational implications. In order to achieve this goal, the analytical-comparative method has been used and the results of the research indicate that in Lacan's belief, the innate human tendency to dialogue and recreation of discourse forms in linguistic structures, paves the ground for the acceptance of the other. Criticizing the sameness view in the traditional ethics that emphasizes absolute good and the great other, he points out the symptom of reduced others in the moral system and mentions the superiority of other-oriented ethics. Levinas also condemns the reduction of otherness to the "same" matter and in the priority of ethics over philosophy, he talks of an other-oriented and responsible ethics. Some implications can be obtained from the other’s subjectivity for the educational system, in the realms of curriculum, teaching method, and teacher-student relationship. The ideal educational system from Lacan's point of view, based on the two concepts of the Ego-ideal and the Super- ego, arises from a social and moral subject according to which moral subjectivity requires interaction and social action between teachers and students particularly in the realm of curriculum. According to Levinas, the ideal educational system is achieved in the face-to-face relationship between the student and the teacher, and having the focus on the otherness of the student, it requires a curriculum focusing on the marginalized persons. A combination of Lacan's and Levinas's approach in highlighting the relationship between "I" and "the other" leads to the notion of "moral subjectivity".