Wanting what’s not best

Journal article

Blumberg, Kyle and Hawthorne, John. (2021). Wanting what’s not best. Philosophical Studies. 179(4), pp. 1275-1296. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-021-01707-z
AuthorsBlumberg, Kyle and Hawthorne, John
Abstract

In this paper, we propose a novel account of desire reports, i.e. sentences of the form ┌S wants p┐. Our theory is partly motivated by Phillips-Brown’s (Mind 130(518):413–437, 2021) observation that subjects can desire things even if those things aren’t best by the subject’s lights. That is, being best isn’t necessary for being desired. We compare our proposal to existing theories, and show that it provides a neat account of the central phenomenon.

Keywordsdesire reports; alternative-sensitivity; logic of desire
Year2021
JournalPhilosophical Studies
Journal citation179 (4), pp. 1275-1296
PublisherSpringer
ISSN0031-8116
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-021-01707-z
Scopus EID2-s2.0-85113706019
Research or scholarlyResearch
Page range1275-1296
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All rights reserved
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Controlled
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online26 Aug 2021
Publication process dates
Accepted17 Jul 2021
Deposited02 Jun 2022
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