The critical appropriation of tradition in philosophy, particularly in the works of Sankara (also spelled Shankara), Emmanuel Levinas, and their views on ethics and apophatic (or apophasis) theology, presents an interesting intersection of Eastern and Western thought. While both philosophers engage deeply with the concept of tradition and its relation to human experience, their approaches to ethics, the nature of the self, and the role of language and silence reveal unique tensions and harmonies.