A Fundamental Difference: Husserl and Heidegger on the Grounding of Ethics

Abstract

This essay begins by retracing the relationship between the early Heidegger and Edmund Husserl during the period when Heidegger’s thought was still closely aligned with Husserl’s phenomenological project. It then shows how a fundamental difference emerged over the question of what the ultimate grounds for action. When Heidegger says that Husserl has failed to address the real question about the meaning of Being, he is referring to the meaning of Dasein. Whereas Husserl maintains that willing and action must remain grounded in the intention/fulfillment structure of reason, Heidegger comes to the view that Dasein must resolutely accept its calling as the groundless ground of significance that is ulti-mate source of meaning in the world.