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Personal Identity and Practical Reason: The Failure of Kantian Replies to Parfit

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2009

Jonny Anomaly
Jonny Anomaly
Affiliation:
University of Virginia
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Abstract

This essay examines and criticizes a set of Kantian objections to Parfit's attempt in Reasons and Persons to connect his theory of personal identity to practical rationality and moral philosophy. Several of Parfit's critics have tried to sever the link he forges between his metaphysical and practical conclusions by invoking the Kantian thought that even if we accept his metaphysical theory of personal identity, we still have good practical grounds for rejecting that theory when deliberating about what to do. The argument between Parfit and his opponents illuminates broader questions about the relationship between our metaphysical beliefs and our practical reasons.

Type
Articles
Information
Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review / Revue canadienne de philosophie , Volume 47 , Issue 2 , Spring 2008 , pp. 331 - 350
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Philosophical Association 2008

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