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| 9284 | Reasons are 'internal' if they give a person a motive to act, but 'external' otherwise |
| Full Idea: Someone has 'internal reasons' to act when the person has some motive which will be served or furthered by the action; if this turns out not to be so, the reason is false. Reasons are 'external' when there is no such condition. | |||
| From: Bernard Williams (Internal and External Reasons [1980], p.101) | |||
| A reaction: [compressed] An external example given is a family tradition of joining the army, if the person doesn't want to. Williams says (p.111) external reason statements are actually false, and a misapplication of the concept of a 'reason to act'. See Idea 8815. |