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Title

Tentative Title: The Possibility of Acting from Duty

(The title is partly a nod to Thomas Nagel’s The Possibility of Altruism (1970). That little book of Nagel’s has influenced me immensely, and in this dissertation I take up themes similar to ones in that book. Of course, it’s also a bit of a nod to David Velleman’s The Possibility of Practical Reason (2000), which is also likely a reference to Nagel. But this title also helps to place emphasis on the weakness of the thesis of the dissertation. I only claim that the ability to act from duty is a live possibility not ruled out by the two major criticisms. Furthermore, unlike some Kantians, I don’t plan to have this capacity play a prominent or constitutive role in an account of agency, rational action, moral worth, and so on. I only want to argue that it is psychologically possible, a capacity we can exercise at least some of the time.)

Summary

Modern rationalist, especially Kantian, accounts of human motivation attempt to at least make room for something like the psychological capacity to act from duty. Kant famously argued that only such actions have moral worth,  but I focus on a more descriptive issue. I argue that this Kantian capacity requires at least two others: (a) the ability to act on ultimately other-regarding motives, and (b) the ability of our normative beliefs to produce new motivations in us without the assistance of an antecedent desire. This requires rejecting both (1) psychological egoism and (2) motivational Humeanism. By focusing on recent philosophical discussions and empirical work, I argue that these two rival views are implausible. While I do not purport to have conclusively argued for the existence of the capacity to act from duty, I contend this defense against two main challengers renders it a live possibility.

Abstract

Dissertation Abstract (PDF; 2 pp.)

Chapter Breakdown

Ch. 1 – The Motive of Duty………………………….. (fully drafted)
Ch. 2 – Egoism: Conceptual Issues……………….. (fully drafted)
Ch. 3 – Egoism: Empirical Issues………………….. (fully drafted)
Ch. 4 – Humeanism: Conceptual Issues…………. (partially drafted)
Ch. 5 – Humeanism: Empirical Issues……………. (partially drafted)