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Ideas of Harry G. Frankfurt, by Text

[American, b.1929, At Yale University, then at Princeton University.]

1971 Freedom of the Will and concept of a person
p.2 Freedom of action needs the agent to identify with their reason for acting [Wilson/Schpall]
Intro p.82 Persons are distinguished by a capacity for second-order desires
§I p.84 The will is the effective desire which actually leads to an action
§II p.86 A person essentially has second-order volitions, and not just second-order desires
§II p.86 A 'wanton' is not a person, because they lack second-order volitions
§III p.90 Free will is the capacity to choose what sort of will you have
§IV p.93 A person may be morally responsible without free will
2005 The Reasons of Love
1.10 p.23 It is by caring about things that we infuse the world with importance
1.10 p.25 Our criteria for evaluating how to live offer an answer to the problem
1.11 p.26 If you don't care about at least one thing, you can't find reasons to care about anything
1.2 p.6 We might not choose a very moral life, if the character or constitution was deficient
1.5 p.12 Ranking order of desires reveals nothing, because none of them may be considered important
1.5 p.13 What is worthwhile for its own sake alone may be worth very little
1.6 p.16 People want to fulfill their desires, but also for their desires to be sustained
1.8 p.20 Freedom needs autonomy (rather than causal independence) - embracing our own desires and choices
2.13 p.65 Love creates a necessity concerning what to care about
2.14 p.68 Loving oneself is not a failing, but is essential to a successful life
2.3 p.38 Rather than loving things because we value them, I think we value things because we love them
2.4 p.42 Love can be cool, and it may not involve liking its object
2.4 p.43 The paradigm case of pure love is not romantic, but that between parents and infants
2.5 n6 p.47 Morality isn't based on reason; moral indignation is quite unlike disapproval of irrationality
2.7 p.51 I value my children for their sake, but I also value my love for them for its own sake
2.8 p.53 Boredom is serious, not just uncomfortable; it threatens our psychic survival