Existence as a Source of Normativity

The work of the late John Searle opens up a fascinating general theory of the sources of normativity within human societies. A classic criticism of Searle’s view reproaches his “institutionalism” for being a residual form of conventionalism, thus preventing Searle from really bridging the gap between contingent facts and universally valid norms. This paper explores an alternative view of normativity grounded in “laws of essence” (rather than on constitutive rules à la Searle) by settling the crucial issue of the place of essences (and values) in a world of facts. Classical phenomenology is shown to be an ontology of concreteness, but this, far from removing it from the dimension of ideals and norms – whether practical, ethical, or political ones – makes it the philosophy of ideals and relative “oughts”, par excellence.