ABSTRACT
The chapter inquires into the sources of practical normativity by leaning on ideas Levinas developed in his interpretation of Kant. In a perspective shared with Steven Crowell, it aims at showing that a Kantian type of ethics and a phenomenological approach to ethics do not necessarily exclude each other. The first part lays out Levinas’s perspective on Kant and shows how it changes quite radically over the years. The second part situates the proposed reading of Levinas with respect to the contemporary debate on the sources of normativity, more specifically with respect to Christine Korsgaard and Steven Crowell, and argues for the systematic strength of the Levinasian perspective. The study closes with an epilogue, which situates the three positions discussed with respect to Kant’s arguments in the Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals and in the Critique of Practical Reason.
