Good Things to Do: Practical Reason without Obligation

Rüdiger Bittner contends that the purpose of practical reason is to discover what is good to do under the given circumstances rather than what we ought to do. He argues that there is no warrant for the idea that we are required by natural law or rationality to do either what helps us attain our ends or what is right for moral reasons. He also explains what it is for something to be good to do and argues for understanding practical reason in these terms.

Format: Hardback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 11 September 2023
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

Rüdiger Bittner contends that the purpose of practical reasoning is to identify what is good to do in a given situation rather than what we ought to do. There are no actions we ought to take under prudence or morality. The notion that we are obligated to act in ways that help us achieve our goals or that are morally correct by natural law or rationality is unfounded. While common moral understanding holds that there are actions we ought to perform and that we are guilty and deserving of blame if we fail to do so, we can disregard these notions without loss, indeed with benefit.

The book also explains what it means for an action to be good in a particular circumstance and advocates for understanding practical reason in these terms. What is good to do is discovered through experience: what we go through teaches us what helps and what hinders, and helps us figure out what is prudentially useful and what is morally right to do. Although ultimately this difference itself gives way, and morality turns out to be a part of prudence.

Weight: 356g
Dimension: 146 x 218 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780197681084