Moral Consciousness in Oronzo Suma, Brentano’s Last Pupil

Abstract

On the back of a photo given by F. Brentano to O. Suma in 1912 there was a dedication in verse, a testimony to the close friendship which bound the two. The latter was an Italian philosopher who followed Brentano ‘s teaching in Florence in the second decade of the 20thcentury, and after his death, retiredfrom all academic life having been largely unexplored.The current paper is a reconstruction of Suma’s idea of the rules governing moral behaviour. In addition, there is little common ground as regards moral philosophy among Brentano’s followers.As a background to a comparison between Brentano’s and Jhering’s ethical theses on justice, Suma’s thought is analysed in terms of its connections not only with the Brentanian views but also with F. De Sarlo’s Florentine school. The points at issue were the nature of knowledge and consciousness, and reflection on both the subject’s ways of behaving relative to the object and the correlate psychic determinations, like judgements.This analysis of Suma’s contribution includes a consideration of the attempts made between 1800 and 1900 to find guidelines different from the imperatives of Kantian reason.