Reasons and Persons

by Derek Parfit (Author)

25 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0198249085

ISBN-10: 019824908X

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Challenging, with several powerful arguments, some of our deepest beliefs about rationality, morality, and personal identity, Derek Parfit claims that we have a false view about our own nature. It is often rational to act against our own best interests, he argues, and most of us have moral views that are self-defeating. We often act wrongly, although we know there will be no one with serious grounds for complaint, and when we consider future generations it is very hard to avoid conclusions that most of us will find very disturbing.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Very few works in the subject can compare with Parfit's in scope, fertility, imaginative resource, and cogency of reasoning."--P.F. Strawson, The New York Review of Books

"Complex, brilliant, and entertaining....This book is chock-full of impressive arguments, many of which seem destined to become part of the standard analytic repertory....It is an understatement to say that it is well worth reading."--International Studies in Philosophy

"Extraordinary...Brilliant...Astonishingly rich in ideas...A major contribution to philosophy: it will be read, honoured, and argued about for many years to come."--Samuel Scheffler, Times Literary Supplement

"A brilliantly clever and imaginative book...Strange and excitingly intense."--Alan Ryan, Sunday Times (London)

"Not many books reset the philosophical agenda in the way that this one does....Western philosophy, especially systematic ethics, will not be the same again."--Philosophical Books

From the Back Cover

Reasons and persons challenges, with several powerful arguments, some of our deepest beliefs about rationality, morality, and personal identity.

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Product details

Paperback: 560 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press (February 20, 1986)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 019824908X
ISBN-13: 978-0198249085
Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 1 x 5.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 25 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #117,139 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #41 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > Philosophy > Metaphysics
- #168 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Metaphysics
- #279 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > Philosophy > Ethics

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Patrick McCuller

Many fascinating ideas in ethics and personhood

December 10, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I got this book hoping for insights on temporal metaphysics and found a cornucopia of ideas, analyses, and gedankenexperiments on the nature of personhood. The moral calculus of time and self is neatly laid out for exploration (do you have obligations to your past self?) A class of problems is deeply probed: whether and how you evaluate the moral desert of *possible* future people (do you do someone a favor by causing them to exist?)

The first part of the book is a technical dissection of the ethical behavior theories of self interest and collective utility. It ties together with the rest of the book, but if that is not your bag I think you can pretty safely skip it.

One stand out, for me, was the thorough destruction of theories of the Cartesian ego. It opened my eyes to the problems that idea has caused throughout history. (That is my realization, it is not in the book.)

It did not seem long. An excellent read overall.

The Kindle edition has about 10 typos, but in addition there is a fairly confusing typographical error in one of the appendices: a capital T is used instead of I in single quotes ('I'). Now you are warned, all of you who read 6 or 7 appendices in philosophy books. :)

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Quality Control

This book is a must have, extremely thorough arguments ...

October 13, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This book is a must have, extremely thorough arguments that can be hard to follow but well worth it once you put in the effort.

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Julian Sanchez

Philosophical Equivalent of a Neutron Bomb

August 28, 2001

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

When I first read this book on a trip across Europe, I was blown away: I remember thinking again and again "How can something this blow-the-roof-off important be published so late in the game?" Parfit shows how some of our most common-sensical beliefs about self-interest, ethics, personal identity, and (perhaps most interestingly) our obligations to future generations are beset with surprising and thorny problems, or even flatly self-contradictory or incoherent. He's also the master of the subtle-but-important distinction. Probably several longish books could be spun out from all the original material in Reasons and Persons-- certainly many journal articles already have been! However: while Parfit's style is very clear, and he doesn't refer as extensively as some philosophers to the work of previous authors, I probably wouldn't want to tackle this bad boy without at least some training in philosophy.

133 people found this helpful

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Gary P. Benjamin

A Contemporary Classic

January 25, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

A rigorously argued work of genius as it has proven to be in the philosophic community. Clearly, this is a book that is a fundamental read for students at the undergraduate and graduate level in all disciplines.

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July 25, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

good and fast

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Verity

I'm only a few pages in, but if you're ...

January 12, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I'm only a few pages in, but if you're a transhumanist, you need this book. If you sit around and wonder about self, what would happen if you joined with another self, or separated out parts of your brain into two separate people, or if you ever wonder why 1 single person is considered an organism, but not 2 people together, then this book is for you. Why does wrong against me count more to me than wrong against you? How should we generalize about self?

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Dr. JAB

Very important 1970s study in the theory of rational choice and its relation to issues in identity of persons

February 12, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Very rich discussion of fascinating thought experiments.

One of the most interesting studies in the theory of rational choice and of the theory of personal identity AND the relations between the two..

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March 11, 2010

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This was the first time I read such a dense philosophical book. Parfit is pretty good at producing reasoning and examples for his causes but there are some serious counterexamples to many of his claims. Good read though,

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Most recent customer reviews

Chris Akers

5 star classic that didn't get the printing it deserves

I just received a new copy of this book and the physical copy is in great shape except that the spine is already splitting and the text is surprisingly small and dense on the...Read more

Published 1 year ago

Frank G. Feldman

Could have/should have been a tenth as long

I spent the afternoon reading/skimming it. Mr. Parfit is brilliant, without question, BUT-his premises and conclusions could have been made in a book (essay) a tenth as long.Read more

Published on August 20, 2016

N. Coppedge

High-quality book that really reads like philosophy.

By coincidence I had thought of some of these ideas myself. Or, maybe I had browsed the book one time and forgot that I read it.Read more

Published on May 24, 2016

Michael Hilburn

One Star

Rambling circuitous reasoning

Published on October 27, 2015

Amazon Customer

I don't usually really psychology stuff.

Published on October 17, 2015

DTKindler

One Star

It is dense and not enjoyable.

Published on October 8, 2015

Marco

Full theory and very complex to follow. Not a walk in the park...

First, pardom my english. Is not even my 2nd language...
Well, I have to agree with other readers about the physical quality of the book. It's bad.Read more

Published on August 27, 2015

Kurt Pond

Five Stars

excellent text and service

Published on June 3, 2015

Judy Himrod

Very Satisfied

I bought this book for my son. For a used book it was in very good condition and it arrived in a very short amount of time.
I am very pleased.

Published on December 17, 2013

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