Abstract

You crave a gin and tonic, and you have just been served a glass containing what very clearly appears to you to be a gin and tonic. As it happens, appearances in this case are misleading: the liquid in the glass is gasoline, but there’s nothing to suggest this to you, and so you don’t suspect it at all. In such a case, we may say, there is a reason for you to refrain from drinking the contents of the glass – namely, whatever reason there is for you to refrain from drinking gasoline. 11 Nonetheless, the fact that the glass contains gasoline is not a fact that, in these circumstances, can motivate you to refrain from drinking the contents of the glass, or make it rational for you to refrain from drinking the contents of the glass. Thus, even though there is a reason for you to refrain from drinking the contents of the glass, this is not a reason that you have. In the situation described, you may not have any reason to refrain from drinking the contents of the glass.