Good Reasons

A Good Reason

In my previous post I explained what it is you have when you have a reason to do something, and what it is that exists when a reason exists to do something.

The Revised Humean Theory of Reasons Further Revised (RHTRFR): If there is a reason for someone to do something, then there must be some desire that would be served by her doing it, which is the source of that reason, and if Agent1 has a reason to do something, then Agent1 must have some desire that would be served by doing it, which is the source of her reason.

A few posts ago I explained what it is for something to be good.

"Good" = "Is such as to fulfill the desires in question"

So, now, I should be able to tell you what a good reason is - and a bad reason - and about reasons that are neither good nor bad.

A Good Reason

If there is a good reason for someone to do something, then there must be some desire that tends to fulfill other desires that would be served by doing it, which is the source of that reason.

Furthermore, if Agent1 has a good reason to do something, then Agent1 must have some desire that tends to fulfill other desires that would be served by doing it, which is the source of that reason.

Serving a Desire

Please note that I said that to have a (good) reason is to have a (good) desire that would be served. I did not say anything about what Agent1 believes to be the case.

For example, a parent may believe that she has a good reason to refuse to get her child vaccinated. She may be motivated to do so because of a concern for her child's health. A concern for the health of another - and, in particular, a parent's concern for the health of her child - is a good desire so would count as a good reason to perform some action. However, this parent does not actually have a good reason to refuse to get her child vaccinated. This is because refusing vaccination does not actually serve the desire that one's child be healthy.

So, a person can think that they have a good reason to do something, and be wrong. In fact, a whole culture can believe that they have a good reason to engage in some practice - e.g., that they have good reasons to sacrifice a virgin to the volcano god so as to appease him and prevent him from destroying the village - and be wrong. There is a fact of the matter as to whether an act, institution, practice, or norm is "such as to fulfill the desires in question" - and the fact of the matter may be contrary to what any person, or what all people, believe or even feel to be the case.

The Desires in Question

We are going to have to deal with an ambiguity here because, as it turns out, there are several different kinds of "reason" - each corresponding to a different "desires in question."

The "desires in question" might be Agent1's own desires. If this is the case, then we are talking about practical reasons. In other words, a practical reason is a reason that tends to fulfill the other desires of the agent performing the action. An agent has a practical reason to invest for retirement, to eat healthy foods, to exercise, to obtain useful training and education, and the like. At the same time, if Agent1 wants to rob a convenience store, then Agent1 has a practical reason to wear a ski mask so as to avoid being recognized on the security video.

If, instead, the "desires in question" are other desires regardless of whose they are, then the reason is a moral reason. Note the distinction here between a moral reason and a practical reason. A moral reason tends to fulfill other desires regardless of whose they are. A practical reason tends to fulfill the agent's own current and future desires.

Notice that this distinction corresponds to the distinction between "there is a reason" and "has a reason" that I mentioned above and in the previous post on what a reason is. "There is a reason" for an agent to do the morally right thing - since moral reasons refer to desires that exist regardless of whose they are. At the same time, the agent "has a reason" to do the practical thing, since practical reasons are reasons that fulfill desires the agent has (or will have).

Good Reasons Revisited

So, we have two types of good reasons.

We have reasons grounded on desires that tend to fulfill the desires that the agent has or will have - practical reasons.

We have reasons grounded on desires that tend to fulfill the desires of people regardless of who they are - moral reasons.

Of course, when we talk about reasons for action, we are also talking about what people ought to do. I will be getting to that next.