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Single Idea 23736
[filed under theme 20. Action / C. Motives for Action / 1. Acting on Desires
]
Full Idea
We should concede that a desire may be had in the absence of its being felt.
Gist of Idea
A person can have a desire without feeling it
Source
Michael Smith (The Moral Problem [1994], 4.5)
Book Ref
Smith,Michael: 'The Moral Problem' [Blackwell 1994], p.109
A Reaction
A nice observation. An example he gives is a father's desire that his child does well. Smith is discussing Hume's account of motivation in terms of desires and beliefs.
The
20 ideas
from 'The Moral Problem'
23728
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Analysis aims to express the full set of platitudes surrounding a given concept
[Smith,M]
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23723
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In the Humean account, desires are not true/false, or subject to any rational criticism
[Smith,M]
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23724
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A pure desire could be criticised if it were based on a false belief
[Smith,M]
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23727
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Expressivists count attitudes as 'moral' if they concern features of things, rather than their mere existence
[Smith,M]
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23729
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Moral internalism says a judgement of rightness is thereby motivating
[Smith,M]
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23730
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'Rationalism' says the rightness of an action is a reason to perform it
[Smith,M]
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23731
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'Externalists' say moral judgements are not reasons, and maybe not even motives
[Smith,M]
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23732
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A person could make a moral judgement without being in any way motivated by it
[Smith,M]
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23733
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Motivating reasons are psychological, while normative reasons are external
[Smith,M]
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23736
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A person can have a desire without feeling it
[Smith,M]
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23735
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Subjects may be fallible about the desires which explain their actions
[Smith,M]
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23738
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Humeans (unlike their opponents) say that desires and judgements can separate
[Smith,M]
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23739
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Goals need desires, and so only desires can motivate us
[Smith,M]
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23740
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Humeans take maximising desire satisfaction as the normative reasons for actions
[Smith,M]
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23741
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Is valuing something a matter of believing or a matter of desiring?
[Smith,M]
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23742
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If first- and second-order desires conflict, harmony does not require the second-order to win
[Smith,M]
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23746
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Objective reasons to act might be the systematic desires of a fully rational person
[Smith,M]
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23744
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Defining a set of things by paradigms doesn't pin them down enough
[Smith,M]
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23743
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Capturing all the common sense facts about rationality is almost impossible
[Smith,M]
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23745
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We cannot expect even fully rational people to converge on having the same desires for action
[Smith,M]
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