A Phenomenological Critique of Kantian Ethics
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Dominique Pradelle
Abstract
We want to focus on Husserl’s critique of Kantian ethics and to develop the following questions. As opposed to the empiricist orientation of Hume’s ethics, the Kantian foundation of ethics has an a priori character; does this character have to be identified with the origin of ethical principles in pure subjectivity? If not, what is its phenomenological signification? The meaning of the Copernican revolution is that structures of objects accord with the universal structures of the finite subject; Husserl refuses this principle and assumes that every sort of object determines a regulative structure in the subject; is it possible to apply this anti-Copernican principle to the ethical sphere? As opposed to the Kantian principle of the supremacy of practical reason, we find in Husserl’s thought a supremacy of theoretical reason; what is the meaning of this inversion? The concept of foundation has great importance in Husserlian phenomenology: every sort of truth of a higher degree is founded on the lower level of sensible truth; is it possible to apply this principle to the ethical sphere? Finally, the Kantian concept of liberty is not an empirical one, but a cosmological and practical idea; what is the phenomenological meaning of liberty?
Abstract
We want to focus on Husserl’s critique of Kantian ethics and to develop the following questions. As opposed to the empiricist orientation of Hume’s ethics, the Kantian foundation of ethics has an a priori character; does this character have to be identified with the origin of ethical principles in pure subjectivity? If not, what is its phenomenological signification? The meaning of the Copernican revolution is that structures of objects accord with the universal structures of the finite subject; Husserl refuses this principle and assumes that every sort of object determines a regulative structure in the subject; is it possible to apply this anti-Copernican principle to the ethical sphere? As opposed to the Kantian principle of the supremacy of practical reason, we find in Husserl’s thought a supremacy of theoretical reason; what is the meaning of this inversion? The concept of foundation has great importance in Husserlian phenomenology: every sort of truth of a higher degree is founded on the lower level of sensible truth; is it possible to apply this principle to the ethical sphere? Finally, the Kantian concept of liberty is not an empirical one, but a cosmological and practical idea; what is the phenomenological meaning of liberty?
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Table of Contents v
- Husserl, Kant, and Transcendental Phenomenology 1
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Section I: The Transcendantal and the A priori
- The Meaning of the Transcendental in the Philosophies of Kant and Husserl 23
- The Ethics of the Transcendental 41
- The Phenomenological a priori as Husserlian Solution to the Problem of Kant’s “Transcendental Psychologism” 57
- On the Naturalization of the Transcendental 83
- Kant, Husserl, and the Aim of a “Transcendental Anthropology” 101
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Section II: The Ego and the Sphere of Otherness
- Transcendental Apperception and Temporalization 127
- “The Ego beside Itself” 143
- Kant and Husserl on Overcoming Skeptical Idealism through Transcendental Idealism 163
- “Pure Ego and Nothing More” 189
- Towards a Phenomenological Metaphysics 213
- The Transcendental Grounding of the Experience of the Other (Fremderfahrung) in Husserl’s Phenomenology 235
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Section III: Aesthetic, Logic, Science, Ethics
- Aesthetic, Intuition, Experience 259
- Synthesis and Identity 279
- Questions of Genesis as Questions of Validity 303
- Philosophical Scientists and Scientific Philosophers 333
- A Phenomenological Critique of Kantian Ethics 359
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Section IV: Transcendental Philosophy in Debate
- Is There a “Copernican” or an “Anti-Copernican” Revolution in Phenomenology? 391
- Back to Fichte? 411
- “An Explosive Thought:” Kant, Fink, and the Cosmic Concept of the World 439
- Eugen Fink’s Transcendental Phenomenology of the World 455
- Amphibian Dreams 479
- Husserlian Phenomenology in the Light of Microphenomenology 505
- Index of Persons 523
- Subject Index 527
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Table of Contents v
- Husserl, Kant, and Transcendental Phenomenology 1
-
Section I: The Transcendantal and the A priori
- The Meaning of the Transcendental in the Philosophies of Kant and Husserl 23
- The Ethics of the Transcendental 41
- The Phenomenological a priori as Husserlian Solution to the Problem of Kant’s “Transcendental Psychologism” 57
- On the Naturalization of the Transcendental 83
- Kant, Husserl, and the Aim of a “Transcendental Anthropology” 101
-
Section II: The Ego and the Sphere of Otherness
- Transcendental Apperception and Temporalization 127
- “The Ego beside Itself” 143
- Kant and Husserl on Overcoming Skeptical Idealism through Transcendental Idealism 163
- “Pure Ego and Nothing More” 189
- Towards a Phenomenological Metaphysics 213
- The Transcendental Grounding of the Experience of the Other (Fremderfahrung) in Husserl’s Phenomenology 235
-
Section III: Aesthetic, Logic, Science, Ethics
- Aesthetic, Intuition, Experience 259
- Synthesis and Identity 279
- Questions of Genesis as Questions of Validity 303
- Philosophical Scientists and Scientific Philosophers 333
- A Phenomenological Critique of Kantian Ethics 359
-
Section IV: Transcendental Philosophy in Debate
- Is There a “Copernican” or an “Anti-Copernican” Revolution in Phenomenology? 391
- Back to Fichte? 411
- “An Explosive Thought:” Kant, Fink, and the Cosmic Concept of the World 439
- Eugen Fink’s Transcendental Phenomenology of the World 455
- Amphibian Dreams 479
- Husserlian Phenomenology in the Light of Microphenomenology 505
- Index of Persons 523
- Subject Index 527
