Wallace 2001 - Normativity, Commitment and Instrumental Reason

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1、Therearetwotendenciesinourthinkingaboutinstrumentalrationalitythatdonotseemtocohereverywell.Ontheonehand,theinstrumentalprinciple—enjoiningustotakethemeansthatarenecessaryrelativetoourends—doesnotseemtoapplyindifferentlytoanyendthatwemightbemo-tivatedtopursue.Th

2、ereis,forinstance,nogenuinere-quirementtotakethemeansthatarenecessaryforrealizingendsthatonemerelyhappenstodesire.ThisencouragesNormativity,whatwemightcallamoralizingtendencyinreflectionaboutinstrumentalreason:thesuppositionthatinstrumentalre-quirementscomeonthe

3、sceneonlyinrelationtoendsthatCommitment,andhavethemselvesbeenendorsedinsomewaybytheagent,asendsthatitwouldbegoodordesirabletoachieve.InstrumentalReasonOntheotherhand,itseemsundeniablethatagentscandisplayakindofinstrumentalrationalityinthepursuitofendsthattheydon

4、otthemselvesendorse,whenforinstancetheyareinthegripofakrasia.Peoplesometimesexhibitgreatintelligenceandskillinexecutingplansthattheyviewasdubiousorquestionable—think,forinstance,oftheex-traordinarytalentmanyofusdisplayatprocrastinatingR.JayWallacewhenitcomestota

5、sksthatweregardasworthybutdiffi-cult.Itseemsplausibletoregardthiskindofintelli-1gence—cleverness,aswemightcallit—asaformofinstru-mentalrationality,relativetotheendsthatweareinfactpursuing.Thisverdict,however,conflictswiththemoral-izingtendencyinourreflectionabou

6、ttheinstrumentalprin-ciple,sincethecasesatissuearepreciselyonesinwhich1Iborrowthisterm(loosely)fromEnglishtranslationsofAristotle.InthePhilosophers'ImprintAristoteliancontext'cleverness'meansinstrumentaleffectivenesswithrespectto

7、03>endsthatareinfactbad;Ishalluseittorefertoeffectivenessrelativetoendstheagentbelievestobebad.Volume1,No.3December2001R.JayWallaceisProfessorofPhilosophyattheUniversityof©2001R.JayWallaceCalifornia,Berkeley.R.JayWallaceNormativity,Commitment,InstrumentalReasonp

8、eopledonotendorsetheendstheyarepursuingasgoodoragainsttheinterpretationofvolitionalcommitmentasanes-worthwhileonthewhole.Therethusappearstobealatentsentiallynormative