This book challenges, with several powerful arguments, some of our deepest beliefs about rationality, morality, and personal identity.
The author claims that we have a false view of our own nature; that it is often rational to act against our own best interests; that most of us have moral views that are directly self-defeating; and that, when we consider future generations the conclusions will often be disturbing. He concludes that moral non-religious moral philosophy is a young subject, with a promising but unpredictable future.
By:
Derek Parfit Imprint: Oxford University Press Country of Publication: United Kingdom Edition: New edition Dimensions:
Height: 196mm,
Width: 129mm,
Spine: 29mm
Weight: 574g ISBN:9780198249085 ISBN 10: 019824908X Pages: 560 Publication Date:23 January 1986 Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format:Paperback Publisher's Status: Active
Reviews for Reasons and Persons
Very few works in the subject can compare with Parfit's in scope, fertility, imaginative resource, and cogency of reasoning. P.F. Strawson, The New York Review of Books