Preface

Summary

Das Schwere ist hier, nicht bis auf den Grund zu graben, sondern den Grund, der vor uns liegt, als Grund zu erkennen.

The difficult thing here is not to dig down to the ground; no, it is to recognize the ground that lies before us as the ground.

(Wittgenstein, Bemerkungen über die Grundlagen der Mathematik, VI.31. Trans. G. E. M. Anscombe.)

When it comes to the justification of moral views, philosophers tend to think that they need to “dig down to the ground”, to find a secure non-moral foundation for morality to stand on. This is a fundamental mistake. The substantive reasons we have regarding morality lie before us; the difficulty is to recognize them as reasons which do not need a non-moral foundation. The task of this book is to help us recognize the reasons that lie before us as reasons.

I have worked on the issues in this book in two main stages. My attempts to formulate my ideas found a preliminary ending with the submission of my dissertation at the University of Pittsburgh in 1995. Since then I have been thoroughly rethinking my theses and arguments and this work presents my current thoughts.

In writing this book, I have benefited from the generous advice of many people. My greatest debt is to John McDowell. Not only is this work deeply influenced by his writings, but as my dissertation advisor he was an invaluable source of inspiration and criticism in our numerous enjoyable philosophical conversations.