Husserl and the Truth of Hedonism

The question of the relationship between Husserl and hedonism is a broad one. One might be tempted to say that it is as broad as the question of a phenomenological ethics as such. Accordingly, the aim of this short paper cannot be that of providing a full account—be it historical or systematical—of such a relationship. Rather, we will try to reconstruct, as much as this is possible in the limited space allowed, the strategy behind Husserl’s appraisal and criticism of hedonism in his late Freiburg lectures. We will focus in particular on the way in which Husserl redefines some core tenets of ethical hedonism and unexpectedly integrates within the rationalistic framework of a phenomenological ethics revolving around the central notion of value.