Reasons and reflective endorsement in Christine Korsgaard's The sources of normativity

Abstract

The Sources of Normativity is lauded as one of the most important contemporary works in ethics. However, Korsgaard’s lectures are brief and gloss many complicated theoretical maneuvers which warrant further consideration. In the first section of the paper I will analyze Korsgaard’s arguments regarding reasons and reflective endorsement in order to clarify the nature of what it is for something to constitute a “reason” as well as suggest a different understanding of the function of practical identity and reasons in moral action. I will offer an alternative to Korsgaard’s formulation of the process of reflective scrutiny and endorsement, one that incorporates good maxims while also relying on particular features of the agent to give reasons the normative force we are looking for. This will be necessary to complete the project that Korsgaard sets out.