Emmanuel Levinas, now internationally reowned as one of the great philosophers of the contemporary era, died in late 1995. His writings have profoundly influenced several generations of philosophers, including prominent postmodern thinkers such as Derrida, Lyotard, and Irigaray. Other of his works avaliable in English, include Totality and Infinity, Otherwise Than Being, or Beyond Essence, Time and the Other and Ethics and Infinity.

Alphonso Lingis is Professor of Philosophy at the Pennsylvania State University. Robert Bernasconi is the Lillian and Morrie Moss professor of Philosophy at the University of Memphis.