In The Value Gap, Toni Ronnow-Rasmussen addresses the distinction between what is finally good and what is finally good-for, two value notions that are central to ethics and practical deliberation. The first part of the book argues against views that claim that one of these notions is either faulty, or at best conceptually dependent on the other notion. Whereas these two views disagree on whether it is good or good-for that is the flawed or dependent concept, it is argued, as against both approaches, that goodness and goodness-for are independent value notions that cannot be fully understood in terms of one another. The second part provides an analysis of good and good-for in terms of a fitting-attitude analysis. By elaborating a more nuanced understanding of the key elements of this analysis--reasons and pro-attitudes--Ronnow-Rasmussen challenges the widespread idea that there are no genuine practical and moral dilemmas. The result is that the gap between favouring for a reason what is good and favouring for a reason what is good for someone appears insurmountable.

About the Author
Toni Ronnow-Rasmussen is a Professor and Acting Chair in Practical Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy, Lund University. In 2015, he was elected member of Academia Europea. He is the author of Personal Value (OUP, 2011), and has more recently published articles on moral progress, fitting-attitude analysis, intrinsic and extrinsic value, pro- and contra-attitudes, reasons, and on the metaethical view that he calls on-conditionalism.

Reviews
This volume provides an engaging discussion of the distinction between relational and nonrelational goods, that is, being good for a subject rather than being good simpliciter. * W. Simkulet, CHOICE *



Book Information
ISBN 9780192848215
Author Toni Ronnow-Rasmussen
Format Hardback
Page Count 240
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 518g
Dimensions(mm) 240mm * 163mm * 18mm