Dear Prudence

Guy Fletcher is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. His research interests lie in well-being, metaethics, and their intersection, and practical philosophy more generally. His publications include The Philosophy of Well-Being: An Introduction (Routledge, 2016), The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Well-Being (Routledge, 2016), and Having It Both Ways: Hybrid Theories and Modern Metaethics (Oxford University Press, 2015).

Guy Fletcher has written an excellent and much needed book about prudence—lucid, thoughtful, and, to my mind, persuasive. He is well acquainted with all the contemporary literature on his topic, and his treatment of the contributions of others is fair, sympathetic, and helpful. While the discussion becomes increasingly subtle and complex, Fletcher remains admirably clear throughout.

• Introduction PART 1: Prudence, Prudential Discourse, and Normativity 1: Prudence as a System of Categorical Imperatives 2: Is Prudential Discourse Normative? PART 2: The Nature of Prudential Discourse 3: Prudential Language and Context (I): Good for and Needs 4: Prudential Language and Context (II): Contextualism And Pluralism 5: Prudential Judgements and Motivation PART 3: Prudential Discourse Is Normative: What Follows? 6: Prudential Normativity, Moral Skepticisms, and Metaethics 7: Prudential Normativity: Realism and Anti-Realism Conclusion: Taking Stock and Looking Ahead Bibliography