From Morality to the End of Reason

In our age of ever increasing specialization within academic philosophy, the work of philosophers such as Donald Davidson, Frank Jackson, Thomas Nagel, Derek Parfit, and Bernard Williams, all of whom have made significant contributions in many different fields of philosophical inquiry, seems all the more impressive. Ingmar Persson should also, I think, figure on this list. While not quite as wide-ranging as his monumental The Retreat of Reason (2005), Persson's new book, From Morality to the End of Reason, covers a lot of ground—more ground, indeed, than many other philosophy books taken together—and it contains a huge number of meticulous arguments and insights. It seems to me possible to distinguish between three main parts or stages in the book. In chs 1–6 Persson argues that (what he refers to as) common-sense morality contains certain important components which, even though there may be excellent evolutionary reasons for why they are there, do not stand up to rational scrutiny. Common-sense morality ‘is therefore in need of revision’ (p. 3). In chs 7–10 Persson then proceeds to develop a general picture of how, in his view, a suitably revised morality should be conceived. Finally, chs 11 and 12 are devoted to fundamental issues concerning justification and the authority of moral reasons in the light of the proposed revision of morality.

Epistemology · Morality · Scrutiny · Theology · Philosophical Ethics and Theory · Philosophy · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Theology and Philosophy of Evil

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• Doing and Allowing in the Context of Physician-Assisted Suicide

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• The Retreat of Reason

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