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    If practical reasons are explanations of why doing A is g... — Carmelics
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    Supports→If the concept of practical reasons is the concept of an explanation of why doing A is good, then a different argument is needed to rule out external reasons

    If practical reasons are explanations of why doing A is good rather than explanations of actual motivation, then the burden shifts to Williams to show goodness itself is always relativized to a subjective motivational set.

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    Key Terms

    Bernard Williams(as a defender of Humean philosophy)
    A late 20th-century British philosopher who wrote influential works on ethics, questioning whether morality can be truly objective and exploring the role of personal projects and desires in a good life.
    Subjective motivational set(What the theory says gets improved through reasoning)
    All the things you actually care about, want, or are motivated to do right now—your personal desires and goals.
    explanations of actual motivation(in philosophy of action)
    Accounts of what actually drives a person to act—what they personally want or desire, regardless of whether it's objectively good.
    explanations of why doing A is good(in normative ethics)
    Arguments showing that a particular action is valuable or worthwhile, not just that someone wants to do it.

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    goodness itself is always relativized to a subjective motivational set(in metaethics and Williams's philosophy)
    The idea that whether something is 'good' only matters relative to what a particular person actually wants or is motivated to do—there's no universal goodness independent of people's desires.
    practical reasons(Used in the context of whether desires generate normative reasons for action)
    Reasons that bear on what an agent ought to do or how an agent ought to act
    the burden shifts to Williams(in philosophical debate)
    Bernard Williams now has the responsibility to prove a particular point in the argument.

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    2 topics

    Truth & Knowledge1 linkedPhilosophy of Language1 linked

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    If the concept of practical reasons is the concept of an explanation of why doin...

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