Long claimed to be the dominant conception of practical reason, the Humean theory that reasons for action are instrumental, or explained by desires, is the basis for a range of worries about the objective prescriptivity of morality. As a result, it has come under intense attack in recent decades. A wide variety of arguments have been advanced which purport to show that it is false, or surprisingly, even that it is incoherent. Slaves of the Passions aims to set the record straight, by advancing a version of the Humean theory of reasons which withstands this sophisticated array of objections. Mark Schroeder defends a radical new view which, if correct, means that the commitments of the Humean theory have been widely misunderstood. Along the way, he raises and addresses questions about the fundamental structure of reasons, the nature of normative explanations, the aims of and challenges facing reductive views in metaethics, the weight of reasons, the nature of desire, moral epistemology, and most importantly, the relationship between agent-relational and agent-neutral reasons for action.

About the Author
Mark Schroeder is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern California.

Reviews
refreshingly sincere...Schroeder should be praised for paying unprecedented attention to the formal structure of all the standard Humean and ant-Humean arguements, and illuminating the foggier corners of the debate * Constantine Sandis, Times Literary Supplement *
inventive, and deserving of attention. * A. W. Price, Philosophy *



Book Information
ISBN 9780199575725
Author Mark Schroeder
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 378g
Dimensions(mm) 233mm * 156mm * 14mm