Reasons and the First Person

Abstract

“Reasons and the First Person” argues that an agent's understanding of his own action should be taken as the starting point in thinking about explanation of action. An agent understands his action when he can reconstruct, or recapitulate, the practical deliberation that led to the action. This requires the agent to use his beliefs and desires as reasons for or against his decision, not as evidence used to predict what his decision is going to be. The latter is to take a third‐person predictive stance toward the action, not the first‐person normative stance that is constitutive of agency. A third‐person understanding of action results from an empathetic projection of the first‐person point of view.