Setting Ends for Oneself through Reason
Kantians argue that rationality includes a capacity to ‘set ends through reason’, including rationally optional ends. But little attention has been given to the question: ‘In what sense are such ends set through reason rather than given by desire or interest?’ This chapter develops a procedural account, on which rationally setting oneself an end has two distinct ‘moments’: an ‘evaluative moment’, in which one assesses the value of some end in which one has an interest; and a ‘moment of commitment’, in which one adopts the end. Practical reason structures each. Regarding the first moment, sound judgements about the value of an end, result from a procedure of deliberation that incorporates certain formal constraints. Regarding the second, committing oneself to an end that one judges to be worthwhile creates an additional reason or requirement to pursue the end, as long as that commitment remains in place.
Keywords: commitment, Kantian, procedural, rationality, reason, requirement, set ends, value
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .