From Valuing to Value: A Defense of Subjectivism collects fifteen of David Sobel's papers on normative reasons, welfare, and ethics, many of which are contemporary classics. New here are a unifying introduction and the paper “Subjectivism and Reasons to Be Moral.” The volume would make a useful centerpiece to a graduate seminar focused on reasons, welfare, or consequentialism. And the new essay will be of great interest to anyone interested in normative reasons. A stalwart defender of subjectivism about normative reasons and welfare, Sobel is also a critic of those views, admitting he is “not at all confident that subjective accounts are correct” (8). Ethics and its neighboring fields would benefit if more practitioners shared Sobel's characteristic thoughtful humility, as well as the creativity, awareness of the history of philosophy, and attention to detail so often manifest in this excellent volume.
When read together, the essays in this collection embody...
