On The Guise of the Good

35 Pages Posted: 4 Mar 2008 Last revised: 4 Dec 2013

See all articles by Joseph Raz

Joseph Raz

University of Oxford - Faculty of Law; Columbia University - Law School; King's College London - The Dickson Poon School of Law

Date Written: March 13, 2008

Abstract

I will provisionally take the Guise of the Good thesis to consist of three propositions: (1) Intentional actions are actions performed for reasons, as those are seen by the agents. (2) Specifying the intention which makes an action intentional identifies central features of the reason(s) for which the action is performed. (3) Reasons for action are such reasons by being facts which establish that the action has some value. From these it is said to follow that (4) Intentional actions are actions taken in, and because of, a belief that there is some good in them. I will examine reasons for, and objections to these theses, and offer a defence of a modified version of the thesis.

Keywords: jurisprudence

Suggested Citation

Raz, Joseph, On The Guise of the Good (March 13, 2008). Oxford Legal Studies Research Paper No. 43/2008, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1099838 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1099838

Joseph Raz (Contact Author)

University of Oxford - Faculty of Law ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://josephnraz.googlepages.com/home

Columbia University - Law School ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://josephnraz.googlepages.com/home

King's College London - The Dickson Poon School of Law ( email )

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