Abstract

The attempt to justify morality comes from our concern about how we should live. It intends to tell us what we should do by showing that there are reasons for doing it. This dissertation examines how we can succeed in justifying morality rationally after investigating what it is to provide a rational basis for 'being moral' and why we seek to do it. We find in the theory of rational choice a framework which is very useful for the justification of morality. However, an examination of projects based on rational choice theory reveals that even if one adopts that framework, he is doomed to failure if he interprets reason only instrumentally. Non-instrumental rationality is primarily concerned with the rationality of ends, which can be construed in terms of Kant's conception of practical reason. With help of the rational choice framework understood non-instrumentally we can make clear how reason motivates us to moral actions and why we should follow reason.