ABSTRACT
The dualism which, according to McDowell, obstructs the understanding of how thought can reach out to the world is that of reason and nature. This chapter analyses the dualism of reason and nature which McDowell attempts to dissolve. It investigates the credibility of the alternative picture which McDowell presents in Mind and World where he draws on Aristotelian ethics in an attempt to broaden the generally accepted conception of nature to incorporate normativity and rationality. McDowell's remarks on this concept leave a great deal to be desired, as he does not explain very much about Bildung, nor does he comment on how or when the process of Bildung begins in a human being's life. McDowell appears to be confident concerning his claims on Bildung through which human beings are initiated into second nature. McDowell links his remarks on rule-following to objectivity, although he has been criticized in this regard for taking objectivity to require the contractual conception of meaning.
