Rationalizing Our Values: Affective Biases and Axiological Renewal

Overview & Synopsis

In the Kaizo papers, Husserl defines renewal as an active dynamic towards a systematic rationalization of the individual and the community, aimed especially at preventing future axiological disappointments ('devaluations'). However, in these articles he does not explicitly describe the method for achieving such a task, which casts doubt on its feasibility. The goal of the present work is to fill this gap with the help of other Husserlian material, especially the Studien zur Struktur des Bewusstseins. I argue that renewal consists concretely in a critical and genetic procedure that tests our axiological convictions by ensuring that they do not originate in affective biases. I specifically examine three of these biases, namely fortuitous associations, tradition, and moods, before demonstrating how they can be overcome through a series of deconstructions and decenterings that culminate in the originary experience in which the value at stake is affectively given 'in person'.