1001Philosophers

Emmanuel Levinas Quotes on Virtue

Emmanuel Levinas was a 20th-century Lithuanian-born French Jewish philosopher of the phenomenological and ethical tradition, one of the most influential figures of late 20th-century continental philosophy. This page collects quotes attributed to Emmanuel Levinas on the topic of virtue, drawn from across the philosopher's works.

Quotes

  • Attributed to Emmanuel Levinas:

    “Ethics is first philosophy.”

  • Attributed to Emmanuel Levinas:

    “The face of the Other commands me to responsibility.”

  • Attributed to Emmanuel Levinas:

    “The face speaks to me and thereby invites me to a relation.”

  • Attributed to Emmanuel Levinas:

    “To be I is to have responsibility, as if I were the elected one.”

  • Attributed to Emmanuel Levinas:

    “The other is not me, and I am responsible for him.”