Skepticism About Practical Reason By Christine Korsgaard Analysis

In Bernard Williams’ essay “Internal and External Reasons” he discusses the notion of reasoning and why people choose to act in certain ways. Williams believes that reasons for our actions can be separated into an internal and external category. Internal reasoning suggests that we have reason to perform an act because it will fulfill the motives that we have. External reasoning suggests that we still have reason to perform an act even if it will not fulfill our motives. Williams believes that external reasoning is impossible and therefore all sentences that follow external reasoning are incorrect. In her essay “Skepticism about Practical Reason” Christine Korsgaard responds to Williams and she argues that external reasoning is very plausible

The college student has anxiety about their schoolwork and knows that by completing their work they will remove their anxiety, but instead of satisfying their desires they lay in bed all day and watch television. This example is a clear case of acting against what would satisfy out desires, as the college student specifically knew that they had the reason to satisfy their motives but still chose to perform a different action. In a situation such as the college student, Korsgaard would suggest that he did not satisfy his desires by completing his work simply because he was being irrational. Korsgaard discusses David Hume’s notion of irrationality in which she states that “So a person may be irrational, not merely by failing to observe rational connections-say, failing to see that the sufficient means are at hand but also by being “willfully" blind to them, or even by being indifferent to them when they are pointed out” (14). Korsgaard is stating here that external reasoning is possible when the notion of irrationality is factored in. If an agent acts in an irrational matter, then it is quite obvious that external reasoning is a possibility and therefore it is possible to act against what we believe will satisfy our desires. Korsgaard completes her discussion of irrationality by stating that if it is indeed possible to be irrational, then it is obviously possible to use external reasoning (14). It is only logical that there can be an external factor in one’s decision-making process, we cannot always be completely rational and even if deliberates there is still the possibility of irrational decisions being made. Deliberation and arguing are not enough to be able to create a rational decision making process and this where Williams’ argument fails to stand up to Korsgaard’s