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  <front>
    <journal-meta>
      <journal-title-group>
        <journal-title>Divyadaan</journal-title>
        <abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">Divyadaan</abbrev-journal-title>
      </journal-title-group>
      <issn pub-type="epub">applied</issn>
      <issn pub-type="ppub">0972-2211</issn>
      <publisher>
        <publisher-name>Fr. Ian Pinto</publisher-name>
      </publisher>
    </journal-meta>
    <article-meta>
      <article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">DJPE1370003</article-id>
      <title-group>
        <article-title>THE RIGHT TO BE ADDRESSED BY YOUR PROPER NAME</article-title>
      </title-group>
      <contrib-group>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <name>
            <surname>Burggraeve</surname>
            <given-names>Roger</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"/>
        </contrib>
      </contrib-group>
      <aff id="aff1">DJPE</aff>
      <pub-date pub-type="epub" iso-8601-date="2026-04-07">
        <month>04</month>
        <day>07</day>
        <year>2026</year>
      </pub-date>
      <volume>37</volume>
      <issue>1</issue>
      <fpage>19</fpage>
      <lpage>26</lpage>
      <abstract>
        <p>Addressing  human  beings  by  their  proper  name  expresses  the  ethical acknowledgment of the other as a unique &apos;you.&apos; This transcends the &apos;knowing&apos; of the other-knowing, which, based on perception, is so central to Greek thought. In contrast, in Hebrew thought a shift occurs from seeing to listening and thus it focuses on the direct relationship with the other-face-to-face-as invocation and response. Humans are &apos;responsible&apos; beings, literally &apos;answerable-by-and-for-the- other,&apos; according to Emmanuel  Levinas. This leads to a  reformulation of the Cartesian &quot;cogito, ergo sum&quot; into &quot;respondeo, ergo sum.&quot; As &apos;human condition&apos; this responsibility implies the ethical call to acknowledge and affirm the other as a unique  person,  always  and  everywhere.  We  can  also  call  it  a  right,  even  a fundamental right, in the sense that the direct interpersonal relationship (&apos;face-to- face&apos;) forms the basis and modality of all humanity, and therefore of all education and counseling, all care, all sociality, economy, and politics. Artificial intelligence and  robotization  cannot,  or  rather,  should  never,  replace  direct  face-to-face interaction, even though they can certainly be useful tools (and remain tools, subject to face-to-face interaction). The use of personal names expresses direct face-to-face  interaction  in  a  special,  even  essential,  way,  even  though  proper names can be misused to label, exclude, or persecute others. For privacy and security reasons, it may be necessary to &apos;anonymize&apos; people, but this should never prevent people from addressing and acknowledging the other as a unique person! Hence the great responsibility when people give their children a (worthy, not crazy) name, precisely so as not to compromise the dignity of the other.</p>
      </abstract>
      <kwd-group kwd-group-type="author">
        <kwd>Emmanuel Levinas</kwd>
        <kwd>ethical responsibility</kwd>
        <kwd>face-to-face interaction</kwd>
        <kwd>human dignity</kwd>
        <kwd>personal identity</kwd>
        <kwd>interpersonal relationship</kwd>
        <kwd>Cartesian cogito</kwd>
        <kwd>respondeo ergo sum</kwd>
        <kwd>acknowledgment of the other</kwd>
        <kwd>human condition</kwd>
        <kwd>direct communication</kwd>
        <kwd>uniqueness of person</kwd>
        <kwd>ethics of responsibility</kwd>
        <kwd>proper names</kwd>
        <kwd>artificial intelligence and humanity</kwd>
      </kwd-group>
    </article-meta>
  </front>
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