Since Heraclitus proclaimed that "war is king of all" the ontological foundations of war and peace have been seriously neglected, even though war and peace as social phenomena have been a daily concern.¹ Furthermore, the philosophical or ontological status of politics has been equally neglected in spite of a plenitude of proposals within political theory regarding the foundations of government and suggestions for the organization of society, which seldom offered a philosophical analysis of the essential nature of the political itself. This essay is concerned with these neglected foundations of war, peace, and politics by way of an analysis of the social philosophy of a leading French phenomenologist, Emmanuel Levinas. It is fortunate that in this decade there is already a significant rebirth of social philosophy among professional philosophers after a long period of professional neglect. It is especially to be noted hat within the phenomenological movement unique and creative suggestions appear regarding the nature and foundation of social reality and human community.² Likewise phenomenology is receiving increased attention from social scientists for, since Husserl's analysis of the European crisis, it has offered creative interpretation of the person and the phenomenon of intersubjectivity.³