Great works of art not only help us transcend our lives but create an ethical ground for our being. According to the French phenomenologist Emmanuel Levinas, transcendence is not a modality of essence – not a question of being or not-being – but rather an ethical imperative; it is not a “safe room” of solipsistic inwardness but a site of responsibility for others. In the transcendental beyond, we are ordered toward the responsibility for the other.
Here are my two favorite global aid agencies: MercyCorps and Doctors Without Borders.