Butler's Stone
Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 99 (4): 891–909 (2018)
Abstract
Early in the eleventh of his Fifteen Sermons, Joseph Butler advances his best-known argument against psychological hedonism. Elliott Sober calls that argument Butler’s stone, and famously objects to it. I consider whether Butler’s stone has philosophical value. In doing so I examine, and reject, two possible ways of overcoming Sober’s objection, each of which has proponents. In examining the first way I discuss Lord Kames’s version of the stone argument, which has hitherto escaped scholarly attention. Finally, I show that Butler’s stone does something important, which I have not found previously discussed. Butler’s stone blocks an inference, persuasive to many people, which purports to show that we intrinsically desire only pleasure.
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Revision history

Ethics.Frankena, William
Hedonism and Butler's Stone.Sober, Elliott
Butler on Selfishness and Self-Love.Henson, Richard G.
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Added to PP index
2017-09-20
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Recent downloads (6 months)
94 ( #3,396 of 37,117 )
2017-09-20
Total downloads
350 ( #6,947 of 37,117 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
94 ( #3,396 of 37,117 )
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