Emmanuel Levinas
A philosopher who argued that our fundamental human responsibility is to the face of the other, placing ethics before all other thought.
1906–1995 (age 89)·Lithuanian-French philosopher·Birthday: January 12·The Greatest Generation
Biography
Born in Kaunas, Lithuania, Emmanuel Levinas's early life was shaped by the rich traditions of Jewish scholarship. His world was shattered by the Second World War; he spent years as a prisoner of war, while his family in Lithuania was murdered by the Nazis. This profound trauma became the bedrock of his philosophy. Settling in France, he developed a radical body of work that challenged the Western philosophical obsession with being and self. For Levinas, the starting point was not the solitary thinker, but the encounter with another person. He described the human face as a command—'Thou shalt not kill'—arguing that ethics, our infinite responsibility to the other, is the first philosophy, preceding even our understanding of existence itself. His dense, poetic writings reoriented 20th-century thought, influencing fields from theology to postmodernism.
The Greatest Generation
1901–1927
Grew up during the Depression, fought World War II, and built the postwar economic boom. Defined by shared sacrifice, institutional trust, and a belief that hard work and loyalty would be rewarded.
Emmanuel was born in 1906, placing them squarely in The Greatest Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Emmanuel Was Born
The biggest hits of 1906
Emmanuel's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1906Born
San Francisco earthquake devastates the city
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1911Started school
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire kills 146 in New York
President: William Howard Taft
1919Became a teenager
Treaty of Versailles signed; Prohibition ratified
President: Woodrow Wilson
1922Could drive
King Tut's tomb discovered in Egypt
President: Warren G. Harding"April Showers" — Al Jolson
1924Could vote
First Winter Olympics held in Chamonix, France
President: Calvin Coolidge"It Had to Be You" — Isham Jones
1927Turned 21
Lindbergh flies solo across the Atlantic; The Jazz Singer premieres
President: Calvin Coolidge"My Blue Heaven" — Gene Austin
1936Turned 30
Jesse Owens wins four golds at the Berlin Olympics
Gas: $0.19/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"The Way You Look Tonight" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: The Great Ziegfeld
1946Turned 40
United Nations holds its first General Assembly
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $5,150Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Prisoner of Love" — Perry ComoBest Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives
1956Turned 50
Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $10,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Heartbreak Hotel" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: Around the World in 80 Days
1966Turned 60
Star Trek premieres on television
Gas: $0.32/galHome: $14,200Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"The Ballad of the Green Berets" — SSgt Barry SadlerBest Picture: A Man for All Seasons
1976Turned 70
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1986Turned 80
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1995Died at 89
Oklahoma City bombing; Windows 95 released
Gas: $1.15/galHome: $96,500Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Gangsta's Paradise" — CoolioBest Picture: Braveheart
Key Achievements
- Authored major philosophical works including 'Totality and Infinity' (1961) and 'Otherwise than Being' (1974).
- Developed the concept of 'the Other' as central to ethics, arguing we have an infinite responsibility to other people.
- His work provided a profound ethical framework for post-Holocaust Jewish thought and philosophy.
- Served as director of the École Normale Israélite Orientale in Paris and later as a professor at the Sorbonne and the University of Paris.
Did You Know?
He was a prisoner of war in a German camp for French Jewish soldiers during WWII, where he did forced labor but was spared the death camps.
Levinas was a dedicated interpreter of the Talmud, leading regular seminars on Jewish texts.
He studied under the influential philosophers Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger in the 1920s.
His brother Boris, a gifted musician, was murdered by the Nazis.
“The face of the Other is a command, 'Thou shalt not kill.'”
