Derek Parfit's career is unusual in that it largely revolves around a single work: Reasons and Persons (1984). Most of his previous writings rehearse the central themes of that work, and much of his subsequent output responds to the critical reactions the book has elicited. Yet, any suggestion of narrowness is dispelled by the scope, ambition, and impact of Reasons and Persons, in which Parfit establishes complex interrelationships among the important themes of rationality, morality, and personal identity. His arguments have significantly revised or set the agenda for debate in each of these areas of philosophical thought.

Derek Antony Parfit was born in western China on 11 December 1942 to Dr. Norman Parfit and Dr. Jessie Parfit, née Browne, both of whom taught medicine at the University of Chengtu. The family returned to Great Britain in 1945. Parfit attended the Dragon School in Oxford from 1950 to 1956 and Eton School from...