Ethics as First Philosophy

The phrase "ethics as first phi losophy" is most identified with Emmanuel Levinas. It is the idea, put simply, that what has been traditionally looked to as first philosophy, usually epis temology or metaphysics , is not first in any sense at all. Rather, all such posit ions are dependent on a precedent ethics . Thus , ethics becomes first philosophy. In my investigation of the concept here , I intend to place it in a broader context of Continental phi losophy, identifying the threads of Continental thought that inform the concept, both within and outside the limits of the phenomenologica l , and primari ly through the lens of the influential p redecessors Nietzsche and Heidegger. In this way I hope to provide a deeper understanding of the concept and possibly a broader defense of its validity.