Why both human history, and the history of ethics, may be just beginning

Abstract

Reasons and Persons, challenges, with several powerful arguments, some of our deepest beliefs about rationality, morality, and personal identity. The author claims that we have a false view of our own nature; that it is often rational to act against our own best interests; that most of us have moral views that are directly self-defeating; that we often act wrongly, even though there will be no one with any serious ground for a complaint; and that, when we consider future generations, it is very hard to avoid conclusions which most of us will find disturbing. The author concludes that non-religious moral philosophy is a young subject, with a promising but unpredictable future.