ABSTRACT
John McDowell and other like-minded philosophers defend the idea that there is an external source of value to which we are responsive at the level of reason and desire. There are analogous themes in Levinas, and I clarify the relevant points of agreement, spelling out the implications for an understanding of the desire for the good and its relation to reason and to desire more generally. There is a question of whether such a position is defensible, and I grant with McDowell that some standard objections are inconclusive, although there are points of detail thatdemand further elucidation. Levinasian desire is articulated from within a theistic framework, and I conclude by considering whether this distinguishing feature creates a more serious difficulty.
