Abstract
The term 'motivation' has considerable currency both in moral
philosophy and in the philosophy of mind. It appears in debates
between internalists and externalists about moral judgments and
moral reasons, in the related controversy over moral realism, and
in explanatory schemes for purposive behavior offered in the philosophy of mind. But what is motivation? My aim in this paper is
to elucidate a notion of motivation associated with a popular perspective on intentional conduct, a perspective that accords states
of mind an important causal/explanatory bearing on such behavior. My strategy is to develop an account of a central species of
motivation. Space constraints and my own limitations preclude my
offering a complete account of motivation here; however, the account to be developed illuminates motivation as a whole.