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.

Preface
Part One. Directives
1. Nightwatch
2. The Elements
3. The Levels
4. The Intimate and the Alien
5. Things
6. Intimate and Alien Things
7. Action with Things
8. The Production of Purposes
9. The Pageantry of Things
10. Phantom Equator
11. The Reasons of the Heart
12. Other Passions
13. Face to Face
14. Association
15. Erotic Demands
16. The Summons of Death
17. The Death of Strangers
18. The Walkabout
19. Importance, Urgency, Immediacy
Part Two The Imperative
20. Images of the Imperative
21. The Theoretical and Practical Uses of Reason
22. The Rational and the Required