FOUNDING ETHICS AS A THEORY OF VALUE

SCHELER, MAX.

Der Formalismus in der Ethik und die materiale Wertethik mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Ethik Immanuel Kants. (2 Teile). (1. Teil: Sonderausdruck aus: "Jahrbuch für Philosophie und phänomenologische Forschung", Bd. I. Herausgegeben von E. Husserl = Göttingen). (II. Teil: In: Jahrbuch für Philosophie und phänomenologische Forschung. Zweiter Band. In Gemeinschaft mit M. Geiger = München, A. Pfänder = München, A. Reinach = Göttingen, M. Scheler = Berlin, herausgegeben von Edmund Husserl).

Halle, Niemeyer, 1913-16. Two 8vo volumes, both in orig. wrappers. 1st part, being offprint: in the orig. brownish wrappers. A bit of wear to upper capital and a bit of occasional brownspotting. Corners a bit bumped. Uncut. (4), 161 pp. 2nd part, being the entire issue of Jahrbuch für Philosophie ... from 1916: Orig. greyish wrappers, sunned spine. Nice and clean. Uncut. Pp. 21-478. Entire volume: VIII, 478, (2), (8, -contents list for volume 1, part 1).

The first printing, first part in offprint, of Max Scheler's great phenomenological work "Formalism in Ethics and Non-Formal Ethics of Values".

Max Scheler (1874-1928), an important contemporary of Husserl, was a German phenomenological philosopher mostly known for his theories of value and philosophical anthropology. He was very inspired by Husserl and further developed his philosophical method. He was greatly admired in his time and made important contributions to his fields of philosophy. When José Ortega y Gasset called Scheler "the first man of the philosophical paradise", this expresses a notion felt my many of the important philosophers of his time. Though he did not always see eye to eye with Husserl and Heidegger, they admired him a great deal, and had it not been because of his early and sudden death, he might well have survived as one of the most important philosophers of the 20th century. Heidegger actually referred to him as "the strongest philosophical power in contemporary Germany, no in contemporary Europe and even in contemporary philosophy in general" ("die stärkste philosophische Kraft im heutigen Deutschland, nein, im heutigen Europa und sogar in der gegenwärtigen Philosophie überhaupt"), and in his thoughts are represented the epitome of philosophical and cultural efforts articulated in the transition to the 20th century.

In this work, which is one of his main, we are presented with the essence of Scheler's theory of value. He wishes to found an ethic in form of a theory of value, and he focuses on the feeling human nature and the individual, who feels and loves. He puts the value of the person in front of knowledge and perception and presupposes the sphere of the individual human being, denying the possibility of pure ego, pure reason or pure consciousness, thus criticizing both Husserl, Kant and German idealism. The essence of human existence cannot be accounted for by a transcendental ego, reason, will or the like, but by the human feelings with love as the centre. Scheler links human feelings to experiences of value and divides these into five ranks that can be felt by all human beings. These values are independent of the things they are felt with, though there is always a certain order, and this order is thoroughly investigated.

Order-nr.: 35743