Brentano, Husserl e l'etica formale

Franz Brentano is a steady interlocutor of Edmund Husserl also in the field of the ethics. The analogy between logic and ethics, judgment and valuation qua reference to a value, the problem of the right end of an action, and the choice of the best among the achievable in a given situation are the main themes of both Brentano’s and Husserl’s ethical thought. On this ground Husserl develops a more complex and articulate doctrine of value as the motive for action. Therefore, the core of Husserl’s ethics is the theory of motivation that in Ideas II is described as the law of the spiritual, viz., personalistic world. Through the theory of motivation based on value Husserl’s ethics is a fundamental part of phenomenology and its analysis of the constitution of the person. The interest for the person does not represent a shift in Husserl’s ethics. Rather, the reflection on morality contributes to define the idea of person through the concept of motivation.