ABSTRACT

Over the last several decades, questions about practical reason have come to occupy the center stage in ethics and metaethics. The Routledge Handbook of Practical Reason is an outstanding reference source to this exciting and distinctive subject area and is the first volume of its kind. Comprising thirty-six chapters by an international team of contributors, the Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of the field and is divided into five parts:

  • Foundational Matters
  • Practical Reason in the History of Philosophy
  • Philosophy of Practical Reason as Action Theory and Moral Psychology
  • Philosophy of Practical Reason as Theory of Practical Normativity
  • The Philosophy of Practical Reason as the Theory of Practical Rationality

The Handbook also includes two chapters by the late Derek Parfit, ‘Objectivism about Reasons’ and ‘Normative Non-Naturalism.’

The Routledge Handbook of Practical Reason is essential reading for philosophy students and researchers in metaethics, philosophy of action, action theory, ethics, and the history of philosophy.

part 1|87 pages

Foundational matters

chapter 2|14 pages

Practical reason

Rationality or normativity but not both

chapter 5|12 pages

How to be a pragmatist

chapter 6|15 pages

What is it to be a rational agent?

part 2|74 pages

Practical reason in the history of philosophy

part 3|106 pages

The philosophy of practical reason as action theory and moral psychology

part 4|176 pages

The philosophy of practical reason as the theory of practical normativity

section Section 1|97 pages

The nature and grounds of normative practical reasons

chapter 21|11 pages

How to be a subjectivist 1

chapter 22|18 pages

Kantian constructivism

chapter 23|13 pages

Constitutivism

On rabbits, hats, and holy grails

chapter 24|17 pages

Reasoning first

chapter 25|24 pages

Normative nonnaturalism*

section Section 2|76 pages

Some substantive matters

part 5|86 pages

The philosophy of practical reason as the theory of practical rationality