Korsgaard

Today in class we’re going to discuss Christine Korsgaard’s answer to Bernard Williams’ argument in his paper ‘Internal and External Reasons’. Because I am late to post this reading, you are not required to have read it before class and will not expect you to have. Instead, in class I will review the argument from Williams’ paper, I’ll explain the central line of argument in Korsgaard’s paper, and then you will be able to read Korsgaard’s paper for Wednesday’s class after I explain it, and then on Wednesday we’ll review it again and you’ll have the opportunity to follow up with questions after having read it.

Skepticism About Practical Reason

The setup in Korsgaard’s article and her explanation of why she thinks it is important can be a little bit confusing. But the main things to keep in mind is that she is trying to respond to what she understands WIlliams’ argument to be, and that she understands Williams’ argument in the way that I have explained it in class.

Williams’ Argument: Review

The conclusion of Williams’ argument is that whether you have a reason to do something depends on your psychology. His argument has two premises.

Existence Internalism About Reasons: If there is a reason for you to do something, then you could be motivated to do it for that reason.

Sub-Humean Theory of Motivation: Any psychological process that results in your motivation must start from a feature of your actual psychology.

————————————————(therefore)———————————

Conclusion: If there is a reason for you to do something, then there must be a feature of your actual psychology to be the starting point of the psychological process that could motivate you to do it for that reason.

————————————————(therefore)———————————-

Sub-Humean Theory of Reasons: Whether there is a reason for you to do something depends on your psychology.

The Reading

If you want to read Korsgaard’s article in advance, you can find it here.