The Wrong Kind of Reason and the Toxin Puzzle

Abstract

The buck-passing accounts of values, which analyze values in terms of reasons, have lately attracted attention. There are thought to be counterexamples, such as the toxin puzzle, to the buck-passing accounts. However, it is a question whether the toxin puzzle is really a counterexample to this account. This paper shows that if two theses, namely the strong relationship between normative and motivating reasons and the guise of the good, are true, the toxin puzzle is not a counterexample to this account. It follows from this that in discussions of counterexamples to the buck-passing accounts the meanings of "reasons" and "values" need to be made explicit.