Abstract

Based on Levinas’ insight, I explore the paradox of materiality that enables the beginning of freedom for the existent but at the same time ensnares individuals in the contingency and temporality of materiality. In the digital era, humans, seemingly liberated from their accidental and temporal bodies through virtual reality or the attempt to become cyborgs, continue to grapple with profound solitude. In their attempts to avoid the inevitable return of solitude, individuals tend to adopt various avatars in virtual realms, inadvertently finding themselves even more solitary. This pursuit leads to a sense of nihilism, ultimately resulting in a loss of meaning. Drawing on Levinas’s understanding of solitude and openness to the unknown, Nietzsche’s concept of active nihilism, and Haraway’s cyborg fictional imagination, I argue that education should not only guide individuals back to their own bodies with attentiveness but also help them embrace their inescapable solitude by cultivating negative capability.