Abstract

Against all fatalism, the attribution of responsibility presupposes the recognition of the subject’s freedom. When does this freedom emerge most clearly? When exercised regardless of the context within which we act. In this regard, the text measures itself with the reflection of Kant and with that of Levinas, with the aim of highlighting two fundamental declinations of the theme: responsibility as an answer-of (what one does) and responsibility as an answer-to (the other). In the second part of the text, two implications of this constitutive link between responsibility and freedom are highlighted: the centrality of the theme of interiority and the openness of thought to the mystery. Free action, and therefore morality, have their roots in a terrain that remains mysterious, as it escapes any possible understanding.