The evaluation of the conduct of other people according to the realist phenomenology

Abstract

The paper examines the topic of evaluation in the light of some contributions drawn from realist phenomenology. My aim is to highlight some essential aspects of the evaluation of the conduct of others, of which scholastic evaluation is an example, so as to highlight both its intrinsic characteristics and its ethical implications. To this end, I will devote the first part to defining the act of evaluating and how it can be characterized when it concerns the conduct of others. In order to do so, I will make use of MacIntyre's definition of practice. I will then introduce the analysis of human acts offered by phenomenology, in particular that anticipated by Brentano and developed by Husserl, Pfänder, Hildebrand and Kolnai, in order to clarify that evaluation, as a human act that has values as its reference, includes a judgement and an act of esteem, but also a response of the will. Finally, considering the fact that the evaluation of the conduct of others refers to persons, it will be possible to draw some conclusions regarding its ethical implications.