On the guise of the good

Abstract

I will provisionally take the Guise of the Good thesis to consist of three propositions: (1) Intentional actions are actions performed for reasons, as those are seen by the agents. (2) Specifying the intention which makes an action intentional identifies central features of the reason(s) for which the action is performed. (3) Reasons for action are such reasons by being facts which establish that the action has some value. From these it is said to follow that (4) Intentional actions are actions taken in, and because of, a belief that there is some good in them. I will examine reasons for, and objections to these theses, and offer a defence of a modified version of the thesis.

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Joseph Raz
Columbia University

Citations of this work

The Normativity of Rationality.Benjamin Kiesewetter - 2017 - Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Putting Racism Back in the Head.Jordan Scott - 2025 - Philosophy and Public Affairs 53 (3):218-228.
Guise of the Good.Sergio Tenenbaum - 2020 - In Ruth Chang & Kurt Sylvan, The Routledge Handbook of Practical Reason. New York, NY: Routledge.
The Guise of Reasons.Alex Gregory - 2013 - American Philosophical Quarterly 50 (1):63-72.

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