Ideas of Christine M. Korsgaard, by Theme

[American, fl. 1996, Professor at Harvard University.]

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16. Persons / A. Concept of a Person / 4. Persons as Agents
A person viewed as an agent makes no sense without its own future
To make sense of personal identity, focus on agency rather than experience
20. Action / A. Definition of Action / 1. Action Theory
Theory of action focuses on explanation and prediction; practical action on justification and choice
22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 2. Source of Ethics / b. Rational ethics
Maybe final value rests on the extrinsic property of being valued by a rational agent [Orsi]
22. Metaethics / B. Value / 1. Nature of Value / f. Ultimate value
An end can't be an ultimate value just because it is useless!
If we can't reason about value, we can reason about the unconditional source of value
22. Metaethics / B. Value / 2. Values / i. Self-interest
Self-concern may be a source of pain, or a lack of self-respect, or a failure of responsibility
22. Metaethics / C. The Good / 1. Goodness / b. Types of good
Goodness is given either by a psychological state, or the attribution of a property
23. Ethics / A. Egoism / 1. Ethical Egoism
Personal concern for one's own self widens out into concern for the impersonal
23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 3. Virtues / g. Contemplation
Contemplation is final because it is an activity which is not a process
For Aristotle, contemplation consists purely of understanding