Emotionalität und Expressivität. Über eine moralphilosophische Einsicht Max Schelers

Abstract

Emotionality and expressivity. On a moral-philosophical insight of Max Scheler

From a historic point of view Max Scheler has always been considered as one of the most relevant founders of Philosophical Anthropology. Still today we can read his work Die Stellung des Menschen im Kosmos (1927/28) as a stimulating response to the deepened uncertainty of the human being in the modern age. The significance of Scheler for ethics, on the other hand, has been – not unreasonably – underestimated by many scholars. Der Formalismus in der Ethik und die materielle Werteethik (1913/16) is a quite bulky work which demands a lot even of a benevolent reader. Yet, it’s worth reading. I’ll focus the following reflections only on one aspect of his work: Scheler recognizes the fundamental relevance of emotionality and expressivity for the moral dimension of the human existence. To reconstruct this aspect, not only the Formalismusbuch, but also Scheler’s phenomenological analysis on Wesen und Formen der Sympathie (1913/23) are of great importance. Starting Point is Schelers critique of the Kantian ethics with its focus on rationality. Meaning Point is a discussion of Schelers concept of the „intentionality of value feeling“. The essay closes with a description of two connected values: the value of the other and the value of the self.