ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the implications of Husserl’s conception of philosophy as a rigorous science in the context of the development of his thinking in axiology and ethics. I draw on a critical discussion of this conception and of the problem of the meaning of philosophy for life that was set forward by the Mexican philosopher Luis Villoro. This allows me to articulate some tensions Husserl’s latter writings and to nuance his idea of the universal character of philosophy after establishing that it is a project that strives to be valuable and practically meaningful. In the final part, I examine Husserl’s claim that the only possibility of overcoming civilization’s crisis of his time is the renewal of an aspiration that lies at the origin and core of European culture and history. I try to show that despite its Eurocentric prejudices, this account contains important ideas that are to be carefully considered when we try to understand the global and local crises of today. I then address the problem of why and how a form of thought such as transcendental phenomenology, which claims to be European, can nevertheless provide invaluable conceptual resources to think about matters of great concern for non-Europeans.
