Rational Will and Rational Motivation : Husserl on the Possibility of Organizing a Rational Community

Marosán, Bence Péter (2025) Rational Will and Rational Motivation : Husserl on the Possibility of Organizing a Rational Community. IDEOLOGY AND POLITICS (1(27)). pp. 61-74. ISSN 2227-6068

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Abstract

One can rightfully consider Edmund Husserl as one of the late followers of 18th-century Enlightenment. He had a profoundly rationalistic standing point, and he persistently attempted to represent a rational and an essentially rationalistic view on every matter. This stance was, however, completed for him by an increasing emphasis on the role of emotions and will in the interpretation of human life. In his recurring lectures on ethics (1908-1914, 1920-1924, and in the 1930s) he persistently represented the idea that the ethically proper action must stem from a harmonic cooperation between reason (Vernunft), emotion (Gefühl), and will. Even in his ethical lecture Husserl emphasized the special role of reason, although, in his view, without emotions ethical attitude and behaviour would not be complete. In this context, Husserl used the notion of rational emotions and motivations. What is of further, particular importance in our present study is the fact that Husserl represented this conception also on the field of politics and political theory. Husserl had in mind the ideal of an ultimately open, rational, tolerant, and empathetic society that relies upon the feelings of love (Liebesgemeinschaft), as the end-telos of the history. In such a society every human being such conceive other humans as in the end rational individual, who could not be subjected to discrimination because her ethnic, national, religious etc. background, whose most important feature that she is a feeling, emotional, and rational person. In this process, to achieve an ultimately rational society with fully unfolded collective reason, Husserl attaches great importance to the capability of rational motivation and rational will, and to the fact that humans, despite their biases and unchecked but deeply loved beliefs, are – in the end – rational and convincible beings. That latter fact should give us hope that despite every hatred, hostility, ethnic, religious, nationalist and other controversies, homophobic, xenophobic, racist feelings etc. we – mankind – still have the capability to reach the level of an entirely rational society some day in the future.

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