What if the cogito is not the fundamental starting place for philosophy? What if ethics precedes ontology, like Levinas thinks? What if my “I” self is conditioned prior by the existence of the Other, who calls me to responsibility and enables my existence?

Question

Ask a Philosopher · Accepted Answer

Hmmm, interesting topic. Let us consider the notion that the cogito, that famous declaration of existence derived from the certainty of thinking—"I think, therefore I am"—may not indeed serve as the most secure foundation upon which philosophy might rest its weary head. If we entertain the proposition that ethics precedes ontology, as Levinas so astutely proposes, we must examine what implications this bears upon our understanding of the self. Is it not plausible, my dear interlocutor, to suggest that my very "I," that so-called essence I fortify through thought, is merely an echo in a larger dialogue—a response not only to the world around me but, more crucially, to the presence of the Other? For in the gaze of the Other, it may be that I first encounter the call to responsibility, a summons that instills my existence with meaning. If we view our beings not as isolated entities adrift in an ocean of existence but rather as ashore on a communal landscape defined by relational ethics, then my cognition may not be the seed from which truth springs forth. Instead, the fertile ground could very well be the web of responsibilities and relationships that interlace our lives. This stands to challenge the very structure of philosophical inquiry; for if the Other is the primordial source of my ethical existence, my entanglement with them a mirror reflecting the contours of my being, then the very essence of who I am—and the essence of philosophy itself—may hinge upon the grace of that ethical encounter. Thus, could we not argue that in the embrace of the Other, the genesis of both our moral selves and our philosophical pursuits might find their rightful place, much like the sun illuminating the landscape, revealing the hills and valleys of thought that arise in the shared human experience?