Structural rationality in desire
Structural rationality in desire
Can desires be irrational? This paper focuses on the possibility that desires might be irrational because they fail to cohere with other mental states of the person in question. Recent literature on structural irrationality has largely neglected structural requirements on desire, and this paper begins to rectify that neglect. This paper endorses various rational requirements on desire, but primarily focuses on the instrumental requirement to desire the means to our ends. It explains how this requirement should be understood, and defends it from numerous objections, such as the worry that there are no real instrumental desires but only combinations of ultimate desires and beliefs, and the worry that it would require us to desire even very foolish means to our ends.
309 - 325
Gregory, Alex
4f392d61-1825-4ee5-bc21-18922c89d80f
December 2025
Gregory, Alex
4f392d61-1825-4ee5-bc21-18922c89d80f
Abstract
Can desires be irrational? This paper focuses on the possibility that desires might be irrational because they fail to cohere with other mental states of the person in question. Recent literature on structural irrationality has largely neglected structural requirements on desire, and this paper begins to rectify that neglect. This paper endorses various rational requirements on desire, but primarily focuses on the instrumental requirement to desire the means to our ends. It explains how this requirement should be understood, and defends it from numerous objections, such as the worry that there are no real instrumental desires but only combinations of ultimate desires and beliefs, and the worry that it would require us to desire even very foolish means to our ends.
Text
FINAL rational requirements on desire
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 18 June 2025
e-pub ahead of print date: 26 August 2025
Published date: December 2025
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 503386
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/503386
ISSN: 0953-8208
PURE UUID: 96e49979-8b0c-40e2-b950-1ea7f6192cf1
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Date deposited: 30 Jul 2025 16:36
Last modified: 20 Aug 2026 01:55
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