Lithuanian-French philosopher who transformed phenomenology into an ethics of radical responsibility — arguing that the encounter with the face of the Other is the primary ethical event and the basis of all philosophy.
Ethics as First Philosophy: ethics (responsibility to the Other) precedes ontology — Heidegger's being-question is derivative. The face of the Other: encountering another person's face imposes infinite ethical demand — 'Do not kill me.' Totality and Infinity: the Other cannot be reduced to a concept (totality) — transcendence is constitutive. Otherwise than Being: substitution — being responsible for the Other to the point of being hostage for them.
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