The Authority of Desire

Abstract

A ristotle said that the intellect itself moves nothing; not even I the thinker himself is moved by thought alone. But thinking which . . . aims at an end and is does issue in and rational motion. Such practical thought originates in the appetite, and such motions, therefore, begin in desire. (Hence choice is desiderative reason or ratiocinative desire . . . N.E. 1139b). But how is it possible for practical reasoning to begin in desire? That is perhaps the central question about practical reasoning. The central question about desire is the question how practical reasoning can begin in it.I