Desire's Explanations

Abstract

I defend a Humean theory of motivation on which desire motivates all action and drives all practical reasoning. First I lay out the significance for this view for metaethics, contrasting it with a weaker version of the Humean theory held by Michael Smith. Then I lay out four properties of desire. It motivates action, causes pleasant
and unpleasant emotions, directs our attention, and is intensified by more vivid images of things we associate with its objects. I argue for the Humean theory on the grounds that it allows us to elegantly explain a variety of psychological phenomena involved in practical reasoning which opponents have presented as counterexamples to it. These include the emotions associated with action out of a feeling of obligation, discussed by many moral philosophers. They also include empirical results concerning the psychology of willpower discussed by Richard Holton and Chandra Sripada.