Dialogic Ethics: Leadership and the Face of the Other

Foundational to a relational ethic is the belief that healthy human existence requires respect for others, respect that does not work to reduce their otherness to the sameness that is familiar. It is not enough that the face of another person arouses awareness. What pragmatic action does it require? This article explores the application of a Levinasian ethic on day-to-day practice in the academy. Weaving together short vignettes from daily work practice with principles of ethics from Emmanuel Levinas (1969, 1997), the author concludes with a vision of the possibility of creating a dwelling place based on dialogic ethics as a remedy to the dialogic tension between the face of the other and the needs of the organization