Reasons and Their Roles
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This chapter outlines a job description for practical reasons—they justify actions, guide deliberation, and explain normative facts, such as facts about what a person ought to do. Reflection on this job description leads to a provisional answer to the question of what being a reason consists in: A reason for a person to act is evidence of a respect in which it is right for them to act. The chapter compares this view critically with two alternatives—that reasons are explanations of right-makers, rather than evidence of them, and that reasons are premises of good reasoning. It also defends the evidence-based account against objections.
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2020 ◽
Vol 29
(2)
◽
pp. 688-704
2010 ◽
Vol 20
(3)
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pp. 100-105
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2020 ◽
Vol 5
(4)
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pp. 1026-1038