An alternative account of epistemic reasons for action : in response to Booth

Document Type

Journal article

Source Publication

Grazer Philosophische Studien

Publication Date

8-1-2008

Volume

76

First Page

191

Last Page

198

Abstract

In a recent contribution to Grazer Philosophische Studien, Booth argues that for S to have an epistemic reason to ψ means that if S ψ's then he will have more true beliefs and less false beliefs than if he does not ψ. After strengthening this external account in response to the objection that one can improve one's epistemic state in other fashions, e.g. by having a gain in true beliefs which outweighs one's gain in false beliefs, I provide a challenge to it. My main objection, which I advance with the aid of several examples, is that such epistemic reasons could not motivate any action whatsoever. I close by developing an alternative account, which avoids this problem by appeal to internal considerations.

Print ISSN

01659227

Publisher Statement

Copyright © Rodopi 2008

Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.

Full-text Version

Publisher’s Version

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Rowbottom, D. P. (2008). An alternative account of epistemic reasons for action: In response to Booth. Grazer Philosophische Studien, 76(1), 191-198.

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