The Second-Person Standpoint
Book • 2006
In The Second-Person Standpoint, Stephen Darwall develops a theory that moral norms and obligations arise from interpersonal relations in which persons address one another as subjects of reasons and demands.
He argues that concepts like respect, blame, and accountability are intelligible only within a framework of two-person interactions, where claims and responses are exchanged.
The book challenges purely impersonal or impartial accounts of morality by highlighting how normativity is embedded in personal relationships.
Darwall uses analytic rigor to connect moral psychology, ethics, and social practice, offering detailed analyses of culpability, authority, and moral constraint.
The work has become influential for philosophers interested in the interpersonal foundations of moral requirement and reactive attitudes.
He argues that concepts like respect, blame, and accountability are intelligible only within a framework of two-person interactions, where claims and responses are exchanged.
The book challenges purely impersonal or impartial accounts of morality by highlighting how normativity is embedded in personal relationships.
Darwall uses analytic rigor to connect moral psychology, ethics, and social practice, offering detailed analyses of culpability, authority, and moral constraint.
The work has become influential for philosophers interested in the interpersonal foundations of moral requirement and reactive attitudes.
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Scott Stevens
Ramadan: The Heart and the Moral Life — with Stephen Darwall
