Ethics of Hospitality: A Contemporary Reconstruction of the Tirukkural Through a Levinasian Hermeneutic

Abstract

This article offers a Levinasian hermeneutic of the Tirukkural’s ethical vision of hospitality, illuminating how Thiruvalluvar’s classic Tamil text resonates with Emmanuel Levinas’s philosophy of radical responsibility for the Other. While the Tirukkural traditionally frames hospitality (virunduōmbal) as a dharmic obligation rooted in social harmony and spiritual merit, a Levinasian reading reorients it as an unconditioned ethical demand that unsettles transactional or hierarchical frameworks. By foregrounding Levinas’s insistence on infinite responsibility, the study demonstrates that the Kural’s hospitality extends beyond mere decorum or religious duty, evolving into an encounter wherein the host is existentially answerable for the guest. This shift challenges caste-based exclusivities and refines understandings of reciprocity, showing how Thiruvalluvar’s moral universe anticipates Levinasian concepts of asymmetrical ethics. The article further addresses feminist critiques regarding patriarchal underpinnings in both Levinas’s thought and the Kural’s social context, highlighting tensions between unconditional welcome and gendered household norms. Ultimately, this Levinasian hermeneutic reveals hospitality in the Tirukkural as a radical ethical practice that disrupts the autonomy of the host, reconceiving domestic space as a site of moral transformation. In bridging Indic and Levinasian perspectives, the article contributes to broader debates on hospitality, justice and the ethical imperative to welcome the stranger.