Synopses & Reviews
Challenging, with several powerful arguments, some of our deepest beliefs about rationality, morality, and personal identity, 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.
Review
"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
Synopsis
Reasons and persons challenges, with several powerful arguments, some of our deepest beliefs about rationality, morality, and personal identity.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [533]-540) and index.
About the Author
Derek Parfit is a research fellow at All Souls College.
Table of Contents
Part One -- Self-Defeating Theories Chapter 1. Theories that are Indirectly Self-Defeating
Chapter 2. Practical Dilemmas
Chapter 3. Five Mistakes n Moral Mathematics
Chapter 4. Theories that are Directly Self-Defeating
Chapter 5. Conclusions
Part Two -- Rationality and Time
Chapter 6. The Best Objection to the Self-Interest Theory
Chapter 7. The Appeal to Full Relativity
Chapter 8. Different Attitudes to Time
Chapter 9. Why We Should Reject S
Part Three -- Personal Identity
Chapter 10. What We Believe Ourselves to Be
Chapter 11. How We are Not What We BElieve
Chapter 12. Why Our Identity is Not What Matters
Chapter 13. What Does Matter
Chapter 14. Personal Identity and Rationality
Chapter 15. Personal Identity and Morality
Part Four -- Future Generations
Chapter 16. The Non-Identity Problem
Chapter 17. The Repugnant Conclusion
Chapter 18. The Absurd Conclusion
Chapter 19. The Mere Addition Paradox
Concluding Chapter
Apendices