McDonald, Fritz J.

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9/19/12 6:37 AMReview - On What Matters - EthicsPage 1 of 3http://metapsychology.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=book&id=6400&cn=135RESOURCES email page    print pageAll Topic Reviews"Are You There Alone?"10 Good Questions about Life and DeathA Casebook of Ethical Challenges inNeuropsychologyA Companion to BioethicsA Companion to BioethicsA Companion to GenethicsA Companion to GenethicsA Companion to Muslim EthicsA Delicate BalanceA Life for a LifeA Life-Centered Approach to BioethicsA Matter of SecurityA Philosophical DiseaseA Practical Guide to Clinical Ethics ConsultingA Question of TrustA Short Stay in SwitzerlandA Very Bad WizardA World Without ValuesAction and ResponsibilityAction Theory, Rationality and CompulsionActs of ConscienceAdvance Directives in Mental HealthAfter HarmAftermathAgainst BioethicsAgainst HealthAgainst Moral ResponsibilityAgency and AnswerabilityAgency and ResponsibilityAging, Biotechnology, and the FutureAlbert Schweitzer's Reverence for LifeAlphavilleAltruismAmerican EugenicsAn Anthology of Psychiatric EthicsAn Introduction to EthicsAn Introduction to Evolutionary EthicsAn Introduction to Kant's Moral PhilosophyAnd a Time to DieAnimal LessonsAnimal RightsAnimals Like UsAre Women Human?Assisted Suicide and the Right to DieAutonomy and the Challenges to LiberalismAutonomy, Consent and the LawBabies by DesignBackslidingBeauty JunkiesRELATED TOPICSAddiction & AlcoholismAnxiety & PanicArt and PhotographyAudio BooksChildhood DisordersChildren and TeensClient ReviewsDepressionEthicsFictionGeneral TopicsGenetics and EvolutionGrief, Loss, Death & DyingMedications & PsychiatryMemoirs and BiographiesMental HealthMovies & DVDsPersonality DisordersPhilosophyPsychoanalysisPsychologyPsychoth rapyRelat onshipsReligioSelf-HelpETHICSReview - On WhatMattersby Derek ParfitOxford UniversityPress, 2011Review by Fritz J.McDonaldFeb 7th 2012 (Volume16, Issue 6)On What Matters is a massive tome thatmakes major contributions to several fieldsin philosophy, especially ethical theory,metaethics, and the study of rationality. Itis also a significant work of historicalscholarship, particularly in its extendeddiscussion of the work of Immanuel Kantand recent scholarship on Kant's ethicaltheory. The book, in two volumes, isnearly 1400 pages long. In the field ofethics, it has few rivals in terms of sheersize.One of Parfit's major inspirations,Henry Sidgwick's The Methods of Ethics,shares with On What Matters its girth,wide-ranging subject matter, anddigressive nature. Parfit includes extendeddiscussions of every issue and subissuerelated to his major topics, sometimesdetailing several arguments for andcounterarguments against a givenconclusion. For better or worse, this styleis reminiscent of the medievalscholasticism found in the writing ofThomas Aquinas.On What Matters is best thought ofas four books in two volumes. The firstbook is a defense of views of reasons andrationality, views that are applied to ethicsand metaethics throughout the subsequentsections of On What Matters. Parfit arguesthat reasons cannot be adequatelyexplained in terms of the desires ofindividuals. We recognize that some of ourown desires might be irrational, and inlight of this Parfit concludes that a desire,simply as a desire, does not provide usHome  Browse Subjects  Search  New Reviews  About Us  Feedback  Select TopicSearch Amazon:9/19/12 6:37 AMReview - On What Matters - EthicsPage 2 of 3http://metapsychology.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=book&id=6400&cn=135Self-HelpSexualityWellness and Complementary Medicinesimply as a desire, does not provide uswith a reason for action. There must be,according to Parfit, objective mind-independent reasons to act in certain waysfor anything to matter at all, hence thetitle of the book. Practical rationality requires true beliefs regarding moral reasons:it is not sufficient to be well-informed or consistent to be rational. Rationality in thefullest sense requires knowing right from wrong.The second book in On What Matters, and the longest, is an expandedversion of lectures given by Parfit in 2002, along with comments on these lecturesby Barbara Herman, T.M. Scanlon, Susan Wolf, and Allen Wood, and Parfit'sresponse to these comments. This section of the book contains an extendedexegesis of the moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant and Parfit's own fullestdiscussion of ethical theory in print. The most striking and original thesis within OnWhat Matters is the claim that Kantian moral theory converges with T.M. Scanlon'stheory from his masterpiece What We Owe to Each Other and, more surprisingly,with a form of utilitarianism. This convergence is achieved through Parfit's reworkingof the ideas of Kant and Scanlon. As the commentators on Parfit's lecture argue, thesuccess of the claimed convergence between these moral theories rests somewhatuneasily on the correctness of Parfit's reconstructions.The third book is an account of the nature of moral facts and a critique ofalternatives to this account. Parfit argues for a version of moral realism that holdsthat there are moral beliefs; moral beliefs are true in virtue of moral facts; moralfacts are not natural facts that can be discovered using empirical methods; yet thereis nothing metaphysically mysterious about such facts. Many thinkers in metaethicshave been skeptical that such a combination of views could be plausible. Parfitdefends his own view through his criticism of recent naturalist, expressivist, andconstructivist accounts in metaethics.In a way reminiscent of his view of reasons, Parfit claims that views otherthan his own cannot explain why anything matters at all, contending thatnaturalism, expressivism, and constructivism are roads to moral nihilism. This claimis dubious. For example, Parfit's critique of the expressivism of Allan Gibbardunfairly reads Gibbard's view as an account of normative reasons and moral 'ought.'As Gibbard stresses, his account is only meant to explain our concepts of reason and'ought.' While this might not be satisfying to Parfit, the reading of Gibbard, to befair, should acknowledge this fact.The elaboration and defense of metaethical moral realism, 357 pages intotal, can be read on its own and should be of great interest to students andscholars of metaethics.The fourth and final book within On What Matters is a collection of recentessays by Parfit, covering subjects ranging from the interpretation of Kant'sphilosophy to the question of why the universe exists.On What Matters is already required reading for researchers and graduatestudents in the fields of ethical theory and metaethics. Undergraduates and casualreaders will find sections of the book related to their own concerns and interests wellworth reading. What is perhaps most impressive and inspiring about On WhatMatters is how, in an era of narrow specialization, Derek Parfit presents an original,wide-ranging, systematic work of great importance. © 2012 Fritz J. McDonald Fritz J. McDonald is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Oakland University inRochester, Michigan. He works in metaethics, moral theory, metaphysics,and philosophy of language. His publications include "Agency andResponsibility" in The Journal of Value Inquiry and "A DeflationaryMetaphysics of Morality" in Acta Analytica. E-mail: mcdonal4@oakland.eduTweet 0  Welcome to MHN'sunique book review siteMetapsychology. Wefeature over 6600 in-depth reviews of a widerange of books andDVDs written by ourreviewers from manybackgrounds andperspectives. We updateour front page weeklyand add more than thirtynew reviews eachmonth. Our editor isChristian Perring, PhD.To contact him, use theform available here.Can't remember ourURL? Access our reviewsdirectly via'metapsychology.net' ShareLike 09/19/12 6:37 AMReview - On What Matters - EthicsPage 3 of 3http://metapsychology.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=book&id=6400&cn=135E-mail: mcdonal4@oakland.eduWebsite: http://www2.oakland.edu/phil/faculty.cfm?ID=5745'metapsychology.net'Metapsychology Onlinereviewers normallyreceive gratis reviewcopies of the items theyreview. Metapsychology Onlinereceives a commissionfrom Amazon.com forpurchases through thissite, which helps us sendreview copies toreviewers. Pleasesupport us by makingyour Amazon.compurchases throughour Amazon links. Wethank you for yoursupport!Join our e-mail list!:Metapsychology NewReviewAnnouncements: Sentout monthly, theseannouncements list ourrecent reviews. Tosubscribe, click here.Interested inbecoming a bookreviewer forMetapsychology?Currently, weespecially needthoughtful reviewersfor books in fiction,self-help and popularpsychology. 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