Single Idea 23746

[catalogued under 20. Action / C. Motives for Action / 1. Acting on Desires]

Full Idea

One way to decide what we have normative reasons to do …is by trying to find a set of desires that is systematically justifiable, which is our best assessment of the desires we would have under conditions of full rationality.

Gist of Idea

Objective reasons to act might be the systematic desires of a fully rational person

Source

Michael Smith (The Moral Problem [1994], 5.9)

Book Reference

Smith,Michael: 'The Moral Problem' [Blackwell 1994], p.175


A Reaction

This is Smith accepting the Humean view that desires are essential for motivation, but trying to find a marriage of desires with reason to produce the more objective aspects of morality. An interesting aspiration…