Warren Quinn’s Radioman example makes vivid one of the strongest objectivist critiques of subjectivism:that an agent’s desires lack the power to rationalize her actions.The force of Radioman,however,derives from mak...Warren Quinn’s Radioman example makes vivid one of the strongest objectivist critiques of subjectivism:that an agent’s desires lack the power to rationalize her actions.The force of Radioman,however,derives from making the subjectivist commit to defining desires as dispositional states of action.Without this commitment,a subjectivist can escape Quinn’s argument and even save Radioman’s agency.In this paper,I will first present Quinn’s Radioman example and explain why it renders subjectivism inconsistent,then,I will offer a new conception of desires that stays within subjectivist parameters while avoiding the pitfall that doomed Radioman.I will go on to explain the flaw in Quinn’s argument against the power of desires to rationalize action,and,finally,I will present a modified version of Radioman who is indeed a rational agent.展开更多
文摘Warren Quinn’s Radioman example makes vivid one of the strongest objectivist critiques of subjectivism:that an agent’s desires lack the power to rationalize her actions.The force of Radioman,however,derives from making the subjectivist commit to defining desires as dispositional states of action.Without this commitment,a subjectivist can escape Quinn’s argument and even save Radioman’s agency.In this paper,I will first present Quinn’s Radioman example and explain why it renders subjectivism inconsistent,then,I will offer a new conception of desires that stays within subjectivist parameters while avoiding the pitfall that doomed Radioman.I will go on to explain the flaw in Quinn’s argument against the power of desires to rationalize action,and,finally,I will present a modified version of Radioman who is indeed a rational agent.
