Reasons and Persons

The philosopher Derek Parfit challenges and outrages our most cherished beliefs about rationality, morality, and personal identity. He argues that we have a false view of ourselves: It is often rational to act against our own best interests. Most of us have moral views that are self-defeating. And we often act wrongly, although we know there will be no one with serious grounds for complaint. When we consider future generations, it's very hard to avoid conclusions that most of us—right-thinking as we often think ourselves to be—will find very disturbing.