The essence of Dussel's thought is presented through the concept of ethical hermeneuticswhich seeks to interpret reality from the viewpoint of what Emmanuel Levinas presents as the other- those who are vanquished, forgotten, or excluded from existent socio-political or cultural systems. Barber traces Dussel's development toward Levinas' philosophy through his discussion of the Hegelian dialectic and through the stages of Dussel's own ethical theory.