Making sense of reasons : prospects for an interpretivist account of practical reasons
This thesis investigates the prospects for an interpretivist account of practical reasons. The proposed account identifies practical reasons with sets of propositional attitudes from which certain actions follow, given the constraints of interpretable functioning. Following Davidson, these constraints are taken to be enumerated by formal decision theory and formal semantics. Thus the account of practical reasons is framed in terms of what rationally follows from agents' beliefs and desires. The hope is that an account of practical reasons of this kind can explain the existence of practical reasons without invoking irreducible normative properties or relations. This outcome depends upon the availability of a theory of (radical) interpretation which is free from prior normative commitments. It is argued that a non-normative reading of Davidson's theory of radical interpretation is available, such that the account of practical reasons can meet this requirement. Although the proposed account of practical reasons does not admit of the possibility of categorical reasons for action, the ensuing objection that it fails to allow for the possibility of moral reasons for action is resisted. It is suggested that a plausible
Beesley, David
BC Logic
Making sense of reasons : prospects for an interpretivist account of practical reasons. This thesis investigates the prospects for an interpretivist account of practical reasons. The proposed account identifies practical reasons with sets of propositional attitudes from which certain actions follow, given the constraints of interpretable functioning. Following Davidson, these constraints are taken to be enumerated by formal decision theory and formal semantics. Thus the account of practical reasons is framed in terms of what rationally follows from agents' beliefs and desires. The hope is that an account of practical reasons of this kind can explain the existence of practical reasons without invoking irreducible normative properties or relations. This outcome depends upon the availability of a theory of (radical) interpretation which is free from prior normative commitments. It is argued that a non-normative reading of Davidson's theory of radical interpretation is available, such that the account of practical reasons can meet this requirement. Although the proposed account of practical reasons does not admit of the possibility of categorical reasons for action, the ensuing objection that it fails to allow for the possibility of moral reasons for action is resisted. It is suggested that a plausible
making_sense reason prospect account_practical reason investigates prospect account_practical reason propose account identifies practical_reason set propositional_attitude certain action follow give constraint interpretable functioning following davidson constraints take formal decision theory formal_semantics thus account_practical reason frame term rationally follow agent belief_desire hope account_practical reason kind explain existence practical_reason without invoke irreducible normative property_relation outcome depend_upon availability theory radical interpretation free prior normative commitment argue non normative reading davidson theory radical interpretation available account_practical reason meet_requirement although propose account_practical reason admit possibility categorical reason_action ensue objection fails allow possibility moral_reason action resist suggest plausible