Just as there are rational requirements on thought, there are rational requirements on action. This book defends a conception of ethics, and a related conception of human nature, according to which altruism is included among the basic rational requirements on desire and action.

Thomas Nagel

• Frontmatter,
• Preface,
• Postscript,
• Contents,
• I. The Foundation of Morals,
• II. The Traditional Controversy,
• III. The Solution,
• IV. Necessity and Interpretation,
• V. Desires,
• VI. Prudential Motives and the Present,
• VII. Reasons,
• VIII. The Interpretation of Prudential Reasons: Identity over Time,
• IX. Altruism: The Intuitive Issue,
• X. Objective Reasons,
• XI. Solipsism, Dissociation, and the Impersonal Standpoint,
• XII. The Interpretation of Objective Reasons,
• XIII. The Consequences,
• XIV. Conclusion,
• Index,