This book proposes a theory of practical reasoning that rests on an appeal to universal features of human agency. It contributes to a growing literature on the relation between actions and institutions; between individuals and the collectivities to which they belong; and between those collectivities and the conditions of agency which they impose. The primary audience for the book will be political philosophers, but the implications of Graham's arguments for political action will interest a secondary readership.

First published in 1982, this volume is a collection of original essays by young British philosophers reflecting the state of political philosophy. For many years contemporary political philosophy could with justice have been accused of triviality and sterility, but by the early 1980s the substantive and normative questions were firmly back at the centre of debate as this volume demonstrates. It falls into three parts. In the first the essays examine aspects of the conception of human nature that must underlie political beliefs in particular the vital notions of interest and personhood; in...