Normativity, Rationality and Reasoning: Selected Essays

This volume presents a selection of John Broome's most important work since 2000 in an area of philosophy where he has led the way. Topics discussed include the structure of normativity; the priority of oughts over reasons; the distinction between rationality and normativity; the character of human reasoning; and the nature of preferences. This volume is a selection of Broome's recent papers on normativity, rationality, and reasoning. It covers a variety of topics such as the meanings of 'ought', 'reason', and 'reasons'; the fundamental structure of normativity and the metaphysical priority of ought over reasons; the ownership - or agent-relativity - of oughts and reasons; the distinction between rationality and normativity; the notion of rational motivation; what characterizes the human activity of reasoning, and what is the role of normativity within it; the nature of preferences and of reasoning with preferences; and others. These papers extend the work presented in his book Rationality Through Reasoning but there is little overlap between their content and the book's. They develop further some themes and arguments from the book, and answer some questions that the book left unanswered.