Husserl's Foundation of Ethics and the Matter of Duty

This papers examines Edmund Husserl's ethical thought in order to investigate the problem of the foundation of ethics in relation to the individuation of a possible matter fulfilling the empty form of duty. As a starting point for the analysis, I consider two lecture courses held by Husserl: the Vorlesungen uber Ethik und Wertlehre (1908/1914) and the Einleitung in die Ethik (1920/1924). I shall try to outline the complexity of the ethical problem in its phenomenological form, considering some internal problems in Husserl's thought concerning the way he tries to develop a foundation for ethics and to identify a possible matter of duty.