Philosophy: Reasons, Explanations and Justifications

When people ask why someone does something (for example why they lie) or what the reason for something is (for example for flooding or increased support for a political movement,) what exactly are they asking ? This course introduces you to three philosophical answers to this question. The first is to distinguish types of reason – ‘explanatory’ (reasons which explain, for example what caused an event);, ‘motivating’ (reasons which tell you what motivates people to act or think in certain ways), and ‘normative’ (reasons why people should behave or think in certain ways). The second answer (developed by Habermas) consists in pointing out that there are different reasons for accepting a statement as valid – truth (the statement matches what is the case), rightness (it tells you what is morally permitted or required, or appropriate or justified), and truthfulness (it is an authentic expression of feelings or intentions). The third answer (developed in particular by Rainer Forst and Jonathan Floyd) is to specify criteria for what creates or maintains moral or political justification – whether these are that those expected to follow rules have a real chance of co-creating those rules (Forst) or that people refrain from crime or political insurrection because they regard a regime as basically legitimate (Floyd).