ABSTRACT
The conception of practical reasoning as a time-consuming procedure with a deadline is also implicit in the language that philosophers use to describe the normative force of reasons for acting. 'Counting' is thus characterized as the unanalyzable essence of reasons for acting. The standard conception of practical reasoning carries the weight of unquestioned lore, a weight that has stifled progress in the philosophy of action since Davidson, if not since Hume. In his Principles of Psychology, William James describes how we get ourselves out of a warm bed on a cold morning. Our positive motivation for implementing the conception is our desire for the end. In addition to this, there is the conception under which the action is allowed to proceed by the supervisory process. The author's case for the supervisory conception of practical reasoning is not an argument but an introspective experiment, for which he have provided very specific instructions.
