Reasons and Persons

by Derek Parfit

Overview

Challenging, with several powerful arguments, some of our deepest beliefs about rationality, morality, and personal identity, Derek Parfit claims that we have a false view about our own nature. It is often rational to act against our own best interests, he argues, and most of us have moral views that are self-defeating. We often act wrongly, although we know there will be no one with serious grounds for complaint, and when we consider future generations it is very hard to avoid conclusions that most of us will find very disturbing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198249085
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	02/20/1986
Edition description:	REPRINT
Pages:	560
Product dimensions:	5.08(w) x 7.72(h) x 1.14(d)

About the Author

Derek Parfit is a research fellow at All Souls College.

Table of Contents

Part One — Self-Defeating TheoriesChapter 1. Theories that are Indirectly Self-DefeatingChapter 2. Practical DilemmasChapter 3. Five Mistakes n Moral MathematicsChapter 4. Theories that are Directly Self-DefeatingChapter 5. ConclusionsPart Two — Rationality and TimeChapter 6. The Best Objection to the Self-Interest TheoryChapter 7. The Appeal to Full RelativityChapter 8. Different Attitudes to TimeChapter 9. Why We Should Reject SPart Three — Personal IdentityChapter 10. What We Believe Ourselves to BeChapter 11. How We are Not What We BElieveChapter 12. Why Our Identity is Not What MattersChapter 13. What Does MatterChapter 14. Personal Identity and RationalityChapter 15. Personal Identity and MoralityPart Four — Future GenerationsChapter 16. The Non-Identity ProblemChapter 17. The Repugnant ConclusionChapter 18. The Absurd ConclusionChapter 19. The Mere Addition ParadoxConcluding ChapterApendices

Editorial Reviews

"Very few works in the subject can compare with Parfit's in scope, fertility, imaginative resource, and cogency of reasoning."—P.F. Strawson, The New York Review of Books

"Complex, brilliant, and entertaining....This book is chock-full of impressive arguments, many of which seem destined to become part of the standard analytic repertory....It is an understatement to say that it is well worth reading."—International Studies in Philosophy

"Extraordinary...Brilliant...Astonishingly rich in ideas...A major contribution to philosophy: it will be read, honoured, and argued about for many years to come."—Samuel Scheffler, Times Literary Supplement

"A brilliantly clever and imaginative book...Strange and excitingly intense."—Alan Ryan, Sunday Times (London)

"Not many books reset the philosophical agenda in the way that this one does....Western philosophy, especially systematic ethics, will not be the same again."—Philosophical Books

From the Publisher