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    Any principled restriction on desire-based reasons (e.g.,... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Extensional counterexamples involving unusual desires (eating mud, counting grass, turning on radios) do not refute internalism about practical reasons

    Any principled restriction on desire-based reasons (e.g., requiring full information or rational reflection) smuggles in objective normative standards that externalists like Parfit and Scanlon explicitly endorse.

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    Reasons For

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    • 1.Any criterion for what counts as a valid desire-reason (coherence, information-access, rationality) presupposes a standard of correctness beyond mere desire-satisfaction.
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    • 2.Parfit and Scanlon explicitly defend objective normative truths (e.g., about well-being or reasons), so their theories cannot ground restrictions on desire purely internally.
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    • 3.If restrictions on desire were purely subjective, there would be no principled way to distinguish legitimate from illegitimate desire-based reasons across persons.
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    Reasons Against

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    • 1.Requiring full information or rational reflection need not invoke objective standards—they follow from internal coherence within each agent's own practical deliberation.
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    • 2.Even if Parfit/Scanlon endorse objectivity about reasons generally, they may restrict desire-based reasons using agent-relative criteria that don't require mind-independent values.
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    • 3.Distinguishing legitimate from illegitimate desires can be done via formal rational constraints (consistency, means-ends reasoning) without objective normative commitments.
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    Key Terms

    Externalism(Philosophy of linguistics)
    The view that the forms of actually attested expressions — sentences, phrases, syllables, and systems of such units — are the proper object of linguistic inquiry
    Full information(a hypothetical condition where someone knows everything needed to make a perfect judgment)
    Having complete knowledge of all the relevant facts and evidence about a topic, with nothing hidden or unknown.
    Parfit
    Derek Parfit was a highly influential British philosopher known for revolutionizing how we think about personal identity, morality, and what makes life worth living. He argued that our sense of being a continuous, unified "self" is partly an illusion, and that what really matters is the continuation of our thoughts and experiences, not some invisible thread connecting us through time. His ideas have shaped modern ethics and how philosophers approach questions about identity, responsibility, and how we should treat future generations.
    Scanlon
    # Scanlon Tim Scanlon is an influential American philosopher known for developing a theory of ethics based on the idea that actions are right if they could be justified to others through principles everyone could reasonably accept. Rather than focusing on happiness or duty, his approach emphasizes what we can defend to each other as fair-minded people, making morality fundamentally about mutual respect and agreement. He's considered one of the most important moral philosophers of our time because his ideas have reshaped how philosophers think about fairness, responsibility, and what we owe to one another.
    desire-based reasons(in ethics and philosophy of motivation)
    Justifications for actions that come from what you want or prefer, rather than from objective rules or facts about what's actually good.
    objective normative standards(in metaethics)
    Rules about what's actually right or wrong that exist independently of what any individual person happens to want or believe.
    principled restriction(in normative ethics)
    A rule or limit that's based on a clear, consistent principle rather than being arbitrary or case-by-case.
    rational reflection(in epistemology and ethics)
    Carefully thinking through your options using logic and reason, rather than just acting on impulse.

    Connections

    2 topics

    Truth & Knowledge1 linkedMoral Responsibility1 linked

    Related

    Any criterion for what counts as a valid desire-reason (coherence, information-a...Distinguishing legitimate from illegitimate desires can be done via formal ratio...

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit
    Even if Parfit/Scanlon endorse objectivity about reasons generally, they may res...
    Extensional counterexamples involving unusual desires (eating mud, counting gras...
    +3 moreShow less
    If restrictions on desire were purely subjective, there would be no principled w...Parfit and Scanlon explicitly defend objective normative truths (e.g., about wel...Requiring full information or rational reflection need not invoke objective stan...