"...a more compelling reading of Kant than any I have ever seen." (David Farrell Krell). In this provocative book, Alphonso Lingis argues that not only our thought is governed by an imperative, as Kant had maintained, but, rather, our sensual, sensing, perceiving, and emotional life is continually regulated by imperatives that come to us from the world around us. Through a series of phenomenological sketches drawn from life experiences, Lingis shows that there are directives in the natural world and in our interactions with others that govern our thought and behavior. In clear and intense language Lingis describes the many different kinds of phenomena that affect us and the ways in which they direct our perception, feeling, and action. Revising Kant's account of the imperative, Lingis elaborates a phenomenology of perception that brings out the order and ordinance inherent in the world we perceive. "The Imperative" is imperative reading for students of Kant, ethics, phenomenology, and philosophy of mind. "Studies in Continental Thought" - John Sallis, general Editor.