Practical Reason and Norms

Essential for scholars in moral, legal, and political philosophy, this book makes possible a more fundamental analysis of rules than has been previously attempted, by introducing the novel notion of second order reasons. The author applies this new analytic framework to such normative concepts as decisions, commands, authority, and supererogation, and shows that these concepts are similarly explicable in terms of reasons of different levels. Finally, the analysis of rules serves as the basis for an examination of various forms of normative systems--especially games and legal systems.