藉由倫理學開端上的初始爭論人們可以追問：倫理學究竟建基於理性或是情感？在康德倫理學中，通過道德判斷原則和道德執行原則的區分，他規定了理性和情感在倫理學中各自的功能，並且最終堅持倫理學的理性先天原則。然而，胡塞爾和謝勒卻宣稱，康德沒有認清情感領域中的先天本質法則性。相對於康德，他們通過質料先天理論揭示了情感領域中的先天性。但與胡塞爾繼續高舉理性大旗，終而將倫理學視為「第二哲學」不同，謝勒張揚了情感的獨立性、原本性，並將其倫理學建基於此種先天-情感之上，據此堅持了現象學倫理學的絕對的、第一性地位。

Due to the dispute on the origin of ethics, one can ask such a question, whether ethics is grounded on reason or feeling/emotion. In Kant’s ethics, he determined the functions of reason and feeling/emotion
in ethics by the distinction of the principle of judgment of morality and
the principle of execution of morality, and eventually held to a principle
of “rational a priori”. However, Husserl and Scheler believed that Kant
disregarded the a priori essential laws of feeling. In contrast with Kant,
they revealed the a priori in the fields of feeling/emotion by the theory of material a priori. Husserl held the flag of reason high and finally regarded ethics as “secondary philosophy”. But Scheler did not follow him. He revealed the independence and primacy of feeling/emotion, and founded his ethics on the apriori-emotion. Thus, he held on the absolute, primary status of the phenomenological ethics.