Reasons and persons challenges, with several powerful arguments, some of our deepest beliefs about rationality, morality, and personal identity. It furthers the excellence in research, scholarship, and education by pubiishing worldwide in oxford new york auckland cape town dar es salaam. If we regard persons primarily as agents, we will reach different conclusions both about the nature of personal identity and about its moral implications. An interview with derek parfit derek parfit is a fellow of all souls college, oxford, and author of the controversial and widely acclaimed book reasons and persons.
Derek parfit presents the third volume of on what matters, his landmark work of moral philosophy. Reasons and persons is a 1984 book by the philosopher derek parfit, in which the author. Of the many puzzles parfit raises, i will focus on two. Parfit what matters pdf from a series of three tanner lectures that parfit delivered at the university. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential moral philosophers of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. In his recent work, parfit returns to the examination of the nonidentity problem, but this time not in the context of a theory of value but as part of a scanlonian theory of reasons for action. On what matters is a threevolume book of moral philosophy by derek parfit. Reasons and persons is a philosophical work by derek parfit, first published in 1984. My brain is divided, and each half is housed in a new body. This class will be a guided exploration of the problem of personal identity.
In 1967 he gained a fellowship at all souls college, oxford, and has subsequently worked at oxford, new york university, and harvard. His thought experiments are delightfully inventive. What are the physical criterion and the psychological criterion of personal identity. In derek parfit publication of parfits first book, reasons and persons 1984, created a sensation among englishspeaking academic philosophers, who were impressed by its originality, its intricate and ingenious argument, its immense fertility, and its panoramic scope.
Personal identity university of san diego home pages. This article examines derek parfit s claim in reasons and persons that personal identity consists in non. My two subjects, reasons and persons, have close connections. He has also taught frequently in the united states. Profssor parfit is a fellow of all souls college, oxford he is the author of reasons and persons, and has written extensively on ethics and. Sep 08, 2012 first talk on parfit for sju ol philosophy of death. Very few works in the subject can compare with parfit s in scope, fertility, imaginative resource, and cogency of reasoning. In this first volume parfit presents a powerful new treatment of reasons and rationality, and a critical examination of three systematic moral theories kants ethics, contractualism, and consequentialism. Conditional reasons and the procreation asymmetry v. Publication date 1986 topics ethics, rationalism, self publisher oxford. This first book by parfit spans over 500 pages and is made up of four parts. Divided minds and the nature of persons derek parfit derek parfit, who was born in 1942, has been a philosopher at all souls coilege, oxjord for many years. Some of these are moral theories, others are theories about rationality. It is a followup to parfit s 1984 book reasons and persons.
Moral action should aim to benefit the aggregate of people rather than specific people. We know that there are reasons for acting, and that some reasons are better or stronger than others. For improved accessibility in moving files, please use the move to dialog option found in the menu. Reasons and persons is unquestionably one of the most important philosophical works of the 20th century, although its conspicuous absence from bookstore shelves might suggest otherwise. If an action is based on a principle that no one can reasonably reject, then that suffices as justification. Derek parfit reasons and persons pdf lihit lab teffa pen case book style black, reasons and persons by derek par. It argues that such psychological accounts of our identity fail, but that their main rivals, biological or animalist accounts do not fare better.
Derek parfit was a british philosopher who specialised in personal identity, rationality, and ethics. It is divided into four parts, dedicated to selfdefeating theories, rationality and time, personal identity and responsibility toward future generations. The problem is that it is basically only accessible for those who are already experienced with ethics, and particularly the dense work of many of his predecessors, particularly henry sidgwick, to whom parfit is often compared on the dust jacket. According to a reductionist, persons are nothing over and above the existence of certain mental andor physical states and their various relations. Derek parfit s reasons and persons is considered a must read in contemporary ethics. Many writers have tried, unsuccessfully, to justify this conclusion. By theory he means plan of action p 3 different moral theories, and different theories about rationality, give us different substantive aims. His views on personal identity transformed how it is understood and used in philosophy, especially ethics.
The text is thought to be read together with the text of parfit, otherwise it may result obscure in some parts. Parfit, the reductionist view, and moral commitment abstract. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. In the first volume of on what matters, derek parfit defends a. Pdf derek parfit reasons and persons juliana chumak. Nor did he wish to become a cat owner, as he would rather spend his time taking. Personal identity by derek parfit 1907 words bartleby. This was the opening sentence of derek parfit s philosophical masterpiece, reasons and persons however, there was a problem. In reasons and persons, parfit suggested that nonreligious ethics is a young and fertile field of inquiry. Oxford unwersity pbess great clarendon street, oxford 0x2 6dp oxford press is a department of the university of oxford. What links here related changes upload file special pages permanent link page. By derek parfit this spring derek parfit is visiting profssor of philosophy at harvard university, where he is teaching recent ethical theory with t. We might say, i do survive wiggins operation as two people. It is often rational to act against our own best interests, he argues, and most of us have moral views that are selfdefeating.
Parfit contends that we have no good reasons to believe that we exist throughout our lives as the same person. The author claims that we have a false view of our own nature. They can be different people, and yet be me, in just the way in which the popes three crowns are one crown. Parfit was born in china, and educated at balliol college, oxford. On what matters derek parfit oxford university press.
This article examines derek parfit s claim in reasons and persons that personal identity consists in nonbranching psychological continuity with the right kind of cause. He asked questions about which actions are right or wrong and shied away from metaethics, which focuses more on logic and language. Suppose that whatever one does a new person will come into existence. Options include the continuity of a metaphysical immaterial substance such as the soul, the continuity of the body or the human animal self, or. I am interested to the third part of the book because it is about personal identity. Derek parfit personal identity and rationality there are two main views about the nature of personal identity. Divided minds and the nature of persons stafforini. The first two systematically showing that ethical egoism and commonsense intuitions about morality are incoherent and that consequentialism solve all the problems these two bases of morality contain.
The draft contained no notes, and it had various typographical errors and other small mistakes that parfit would certainly have corrected before publication. His book reasons and persons 1984 is a fertile exploration of. Close to a work of genius, reads one of the blurbs on the back cover and, for once, it is not an exaggeration. I shall briefly describe these views, say without argument which i believe to be true, and then discuss the implications of this view for one of the main conceptions of rationality. The main subjeas on which he has worked have been rationality, morality, personal identity, and juture generations. About the author derek parfit is a research fellow at all souls college. Jessie and norman parjit and my sisters theodora and joanna printed in great britain on acidfree paper by cpi antony rowe, chippenham, wiltshire. Derek parfit, a british philosopher whose writing on personal identity, the nature of reasons and the objectivity of morality reestablished ethics as. 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. Conditional reasons and the procreation asymmetry v10. Derek parfit, philosopher who explored identity and moral. Suffice to say, if you wanted to be taken seriously in moral philosophy, it seems like you had to be familiar with parfits reasons and persons. Reasons and persons kindle edition by parfit, derek.
Jan 24, 2017 at this stage, parfit had already spent over 10 years at all souls. This paper sketches a theory of the reasongiving force of wellbeing that. In the first part we first argue against the humean view of personal identity. Think of some hypothetical cases in which a person survives according to the first view but not according to the second. This volume is partly about what it is for things to matter, in the sense that we. We need not, however, accept the no difference view. Parfit d and vesey g 1974 brain transplants and personal identity. It is the longawaited followup to derek parfit s 1984 book reasons and persons, one of the landmarks of twentiethcentury philosophy. Early buddhism on reasons and persons with jake davis, ph. Parfit, as we will presently see, admires scanlons theory of reasons for action according to which such reasons are ways of justifying our actions to each other. Unlike reasons for belief, which refer to epistemological or metaphysi. Parfit, divided minds and the nature of persons brief outline of his. Solving parfit s puzzles in part iv of reasons and persons, derek parfit explores moral questions regarding future generations. On parfits view that we are not human beings royal.
This is a significant departure from the position oxigenoterapia en prematuros pdf he defended in reasons and persons, that personal identity consists in pares the philosophy of parfit and the buddha. I believe that most of us have false beliefs about our own nature, and our identity over time, and that, when we see the truth, we ought to change some of our beliefs about what we have reason to do. Parfit held that conventional philosophical notions regarding the. I knew about this book through the comments i read. In reasons and persons, derek parfit argues for a reductionist view of personal identity. On parfit s view that we are not human beings volume 76 eric t. Parfit develops further his influential treatment of reasons, normativity, the meaning of moral discourse, and the status of morality. On what matters is a twovolume book of moral philosophy by derek parfit published in 2011. Thus, it might be argued that one difference between the two cases is that while in same person case, choosing good wrongs a person, choosing good in nonidentity case wrongs noone, and that this difference affects the comparative strength of our reasons. Our knowledge of these cases depends on the results of various psychological tests, as described by donald mackay. This paper sketches a theory of the reasongiving force of wellbeing that allows us to reconcile our intuitions about two. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading reasons and persons. Causing people to exist and saving peoples lives rutgers.
Profssor parfit is a fellow of all souls college, oxford he is the author of reasons and persons. Parfit died unexpectedly in the early hours of the morning on january 2. Parfit presents a powerful new treatment of reasons, rationality, and normativity, and a critical examination of three systematic moral theories kants ethics, contractualism, and consequentialism leading to his own groundbreaking synthetic conclusion. Lose yourself the first part of derek parfit s reasons and persons o xford university press, 1984 is devoted to selfdefeating theories.
P39 1984 170 83159 isbn 9780198249085 pbk to my parents. Reasons and persons is a 1984 book by the philosopher derek parfit, in which the author discusses ethics, rationality and personal identity. Pdf reasons and persons download full pdf book download. The first two volumes were published in 2011 and the third in 2017. Part one discusses some ways in which theories about morality and rationality can be self. Answers to this question i call theories about selfinterest. Consequentialists would have it, all that ultimately matters is that. He engages with his critics, and shows the way to resolution of their differences.
Reasons and persons is a 1984 book by the philosopher derek parfit, in which the author discusses ethics, rationality and personal identity it is divided into four parts, dedicated to selfdefeating theories, rationality and time, personal identity and responsibility toward future generations. The idea that meditation leads to the realization that there is no self, and that this realization motivates selfless action for the welfare of all beings, is widely understood to be a central feature of buddhist doctrine. Buy reasons and persons oxford paperbacks by parfit, derek isbn. Library of congress cataloging in publication data. Reasons and persons derek parfit very few works in the subject can compare with parfit s in scope, fertility, imaginative resource, and cogency of reasoning. It focuses on ethics, rationality and personal identity. Divided minds and the nature of persons langara college.
But for those planning to read parfit s masterwork of moral philosophy, i would like to offer two words of warning. Brought to you by the hebrew university of jerusalem. It is often rational to act against our own best interersts, he argues, and most of us have moral views that are selfdefeating. Forrest refers toparfit in relation to ethics, but he does not specifically address how parfit. The book is entitled reasons and persons because parfit holds that in various ways our reasons for acting should become more impersonal. Parfit s interest is in those metaphysical questions that have moral and emotional significance. First talk on parfit for sju ol philosophy of death. Brad hooker on derek parfits philosophical legacy reapp. Such theories give us certain aims, but also tell us to act in ways that frustrate these aims. One of the main subjects of this book is a set of questions about what we have reason to do. Professor john campbell gives a series of introductory lectures on the philosophy of mind at berkeley. Reasons and persons is divided into four sections, of which i think the 3rd and 4th are the most fun and interesting. His thoughtprovoking analysis raises several problems for our most intuitive beliefs about future generations. Head transplants, personal identity, and derek parfit.
We usually start these interviews by asking our interviewees samething about what turned their interests towards philoso phy. Commentary about derek parfits book reasons and persons. Jessie and norman parjit and my sisters theodora and joanna printed in great britain on acidfree paper by cpi antony rowe, chippenham. Pdf in this book parfit attempts to develop a rational, nonreligious ethics. This book challenges, with several powerful arguments, some of our deepest beliefs about rationality, morality, and personal identity. After surveying the implications of parfit s central argument about personal identity to forrests scientific theism, this paper will evaluate the contributions of parfit and forrest.
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