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On What Matters: Volume Three

by Derek Parfit (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 26 ratings
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Derek Parfit presents the third volume of On What Matters, his landmark work of moral philosophy. Parfit develops further his influential treatment of reasons, normativity, the meaning of moral discourse, and the status of morality. He engages with his critics, and shows the way to resolution of their differences.

This volume is partly about what it is for things to matter, in the sense that we all have reasons to care about these things. Much of the book discusses three of the main kinds of meta-ethical theory: Normative Naturalism, Quasi-Realist Expressivism, and Non-Metaphysical Non-Naturalism, which Derek Parfit now calls Non-Realist Cognitivism. This third theory claims that, if we use the word 'reality' in an ontologically weighty sense, irreducibly normative truths have no mysterious or incredible ontological implications. If instead we use 'reality' in a wide sense, according to which all truths are truths about reality, this theory claims that some non-empirically discoverable truths-such as logical, mathematical, modal, and some normative truths-raise no difficult ontological questions.

Parfit discusses these theories partly by commenting on the views of some of the contributors to Peter Singer's collection Does Anything Really Matter? Parfit on Objectivity. Though Peter Railton is a Naturalist, he has widened his view by accepting some further claims, and he has suggested that this wider version of Naturalism could be combined with Non-Realist Cognitivism. Parfit argues that Railton is right, since these theories no longer deeply disagree. Though Allan Gibbard is a Quasi-Realist Expressivist, he has suggested that the best version of his view could be combined with Non-Realist Cognitivism. Parfit argues that Gibbard is right, since Gibbard and he now accept the other's main meta-ethical claim. It is rare for three such different philosophical theories to be able to be widened in ways that resolve their deepest disagreements. This happy convergence supports the view that these meta-ethical theories are true. Parfit also discusses the views of several other philosophers, and some other meta-ethical and normative questions.
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  1. ISBN-10
    0198778600
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0198778608
  3. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  4. Publication date
    March 19, 2017
  5. Language
    English
  6. Dimensions
    9.3 x 1.8 x 6.1 inches
  7. Print length
    496 pages
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

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"With all of the exchanges that take place in volume 3 and Singer's collection, readers are likely to come away with the favorable impression that philosophy is a highly collaborative enterprise. ... all of the thirty-six authors cited in the bibliography are full professors, the majority of the still living of whom are towering figures in the profession with associations to only a small number of prestigious departments ... while our discipline lost a philosophical giant when Parfit passed away shortly before the publications of volume 3 and Singer's collection, moral philosophy has a bright future ahead of it."--Nicholas Laskowski, Ethics

About the Author

Derek Parfit, All Souls, University of Oxford

Derek Parfit is one of the leading philosophers of our time. He is a Senior Research Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford, Global Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at New York University, and a Fellow of the British Academy and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is the author of Reasons and Persons (OUP, 1984), one of the most influential books in philosophy of the last several decades, and the acclaimed On What Matters: Volume One and Volume Two.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press (March 19, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 496 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0198778600
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0198778608
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.3 x 1.8 x 6.1 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 26 ratings

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Derek Parfit

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4.7 out of 5 stars
26 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
    Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    This is a very impressive book. Parfit shows that we have reasons to care about others for their own sake. The fact that this is necessary, given the views of some other prominent philosophers, underlines the importance of this final volume of On What Matters. In it he engages with other leading thinkers in an often successful endeavour to reach agreement on some of the difficult questions of metaethics.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • L. Jordan Bickel
    5.0 out of 5 stars Wow
    Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    I'm still captivated, three volumes in. I feel more capable with this problem domain than I was before beginning Parfit's great work.
    One person found this helpful
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  • BeeKeeper
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    outstanding final book by one of the worlds clearest thinkers. RIP DP
    One person found this helpful
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