Description
Book SynopsisThe Nature of Normativity presents a complete theory about the nature of normative thought -- that is, the sort of thought that is concerned with what ought to be the case, or what we ought to do or think. Ralph Wedgwood defends a kind of realism about the normative, according to which normative truths or facts are genuinely part of reality. Anti-realists often complain that realism gives rise to demands for explanation that it cannot adequately meet. What is the nature of these normative facts? How we could ever know them or even refer to them in language or thought? Wedgwood accepts that any adequate version of realism must answer these explanatory demands. However, he seeks to show that these demands can be met - in large part by relying on a version of the idea, which has been much discussed in recent work in the philosophy of mind, that the intentional is normative - that is, that there is no way of explaining the nature of the various sorts of mental states that have intentional
Trade ReviewThis is a big-picture book, written with a breadth of focus which I find admirable... To help guide us through such a broad landscape, the book needed to be well signposted and clearly written, and it is... when the big picture in question is as interesting as Wedgwood's, the game is worth the candle. * C. S. Jenkins, Analysis Reviews *
Highly ambitious and ingeniously argued * Hallvard Lillehammer, Times Literary Supplement *
The explanatory power, breadth, and sheer inventiveness of Ralph Wedgwood's work places him in a category of his own... its richness and the surprising coherence of the interconnected views that it advocates demand serious attention. * Mark Schroeder, Notre Dame Philosophical Review *
Wide-ranging, systematic, and provocative. * Chris Alen Sula, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice *
an ambitious and sophisticated exploration ... a dense and richly argumentative book informed by a deep knowledge and understanding of the state of play in the areas addressed. * Alan Millar, Mind *
Table of ContentsPART I: THE SEMANTICS OF NORMATIVE THOUGHT AND DISCOURSE; PART II: THE METAPHYSICS OF NORMATIVE FACTS; PART III: THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF NORMATIVE BELIEF
