Tilley, John J.2019-08-232019-08-232018-12Tilley, J. J. (2018). Butler’s Stone. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, 99(4), 891–909. https://doi.org/10.1111/papq.12221https://hdl.handle.net/1805/20545In the eleventh of Joseph Butler's Fifteen Sermons we find his best‐known argument against psychological hedonism. Elliott Sober calls that argument Butler's stone, and famously challenges it. I consider whether Butler's stone has value. In doing so I examine, and reject, two possible responses to Sober's objection. This involves, in part, discussing Lord Kames's version of the stone argument, which has hitherto escaped scholarly attention. Finally, I explain an important value of Butler's stone, which I have not found previously discussed. Butler's stone blocks an inference, persuasive to many people, which purports to show that we intrinsically desire only pleasure.enPublisher PolicyJoseph Butlerpsychological hedonismButler’s stoneArticle