Derek Parfit bol britský profesor filozofie, ktorý sa špecializoval na osobnú identitu, racionalitu a etiku. Jeho dielo skúmalo zložité vzťahy medzi týmito kľúčovými filozofickými konceptmi. Jeho prístup prehĺbil naše chápanie toho, čo znamená byť osobou a ako by sme mali konať. Parfitovo myslenie malo hlboký vplyv na modernú morálnu a metaetickú filozofiu.
This is the first volume of a major work in moral philosophy, the long-awaited follow-up to Parfit's classic Reasons and Persons, a landmark of 20th-century philosophy. Parfit presents a powerful new treatment of reasons and a critical examination of the most prominent systematic moral theories, leading to his own ground-breaking conclusion.
Challenging, with several powerful arguments, some of our deepest beliefs about rationality, morality, and personal identity, Parfit claims that we have a false view about our own nature. It is often rational to act against our own best interests, he argues, and most of us have moral views that are self-defeating. We often act wrongly, although we know there will be no one with serious grounds for complaint, and when we consider future generations it is very hard to avoid conclusions that most of us will find very disturbing.