The idea of man and the other is central to the philosophy of both Hannah Arendt and Emmanual Levinas, though in different ways. While for Hannah Arendt, it is a political question based on the notion of plurality. For Levinas, it raises an ethical question embedded in the idea of alterity. Nevertheless, their philosophy does converge around the uncertain character of action in the political space involving the man and the other. Levinas and Arendt both warn that the political left to itself can lead to tyranny in this uncertain space. Thus, their shared concern is how to sustain this uncertain space. In the contemporary political dimension of the liberal framework, a perennial problem is how to address the growing pluralistic society. This society threatens to break off the edifice of the institutional framework, which is needed to maintain the political order. The political of Arendt, complemented with the ethical approach of Levinas, carries a possible solution. This paper examines the common agonistic element present in both philosophers. This paper further presents an argument favouring an inclusive political, which acknowledges the uncertainty inherent in the political action and takes an ethical approach in its manifestation.


Keywords: Uncertain, Ethical, Action, Political, Agonism, the Other.