The ideal of humanity versusworldly powers: Kant, Fichte, and Husserl*

Challenged by worldly powers, philosophy and the human sciences have traditionally proposed «ideals of humanity» as guides towards spiritual values in times of crises. By the end of the 18th century, Kant defended the rational ideas fostered by the Faculty of Philosophy, as opposed to the dogmatic teachings of Theology, Jurisprudence and Medicine. At the beginning of the 19th century, Fichte’s reflections inspired the values brandished by German Idealism after Germany’s defeat by the Napoleonic armies.A century later, after First World War, Husserl believed that «Fichte’s Ideal of Humanity» offered a hope of renewal, by fostering the emergence of a global moral order. After another century, Husserl’s reflections and those of his predecessors in times of crises, reveal their enduring relevance.