Derek Parfit’s Reasons and Persons: An Introduction and Critical Inquiry

by Andrea Sauchelli (Editor)

Derek Parfit (1942–2017) is widely considered to be one of the most important moral philosophers of the twentieth century. Reasons and Persons is arguably the most influential of the two books published in his lifetime and hailed as a classic work of ethics and personal identity. Derek Parfit’s Reasons and Persons : An Introduction and Critical Inquiry is an outstanding introduction to and assessment of Parfit’s book, with chapters by leading scholars of ethics, metaphysics and of Parfit’s work. Part I provides a much-needed introduction to key topics and themes in Reasons and Persons that will be useful for those new to Parfit’s complex work. These include Parfit’s idea of self-defeating theories, rationality and time, personal identity, future generations and well-being. Part II explores various debates generated by Reasons and Persons , including its connections with Buddhism, metaethics, theory of rationality, transformative choices and further developments in personal identity and metaphysics such as conativism. Combining clear exposition of the major topics and arguments in Reasons and Persons with scholarly perspectives on more advanced themes, this book is ideal for students of ethics, metaethics, metaphysics and anyone interested in Derek Parfit’s philosophy.

Genres: Philosophy

270 pages, Hardcover

Published March 3, 2020

Reviews

[Daniel Hageman]

The first third of this compendium is a fantastic companion for anyone as they read through R&P. It was only a few months after finishing that I came back to continue with the various excerpts regarding specific topics from the book, the majority of which provided extremely insightful arguments both in support and to the contrary of Parfit's, all while supplying a plethora of further contemporary resources, for those who haven't yet had their fill (or those with the audacity to align goals for their future selves).

[Sam Bowman]

I found R&P incredibly valuable, but as an academic (but not a philosopher) interested in getting an overview of where modern analytic philosophers have taken Parfit's ideas, this volume wasn't very useful. Many of the contributed pieces didn't seem to take Parfits original claims all that seriously, instead using them just as a rough thematic jumping off point. Many were poorly organized, and in some cases even needed copy editing.