 These claims might take us aback: Motives are not causes and have no real existence? How could that be? When evaluating these claims, two things should be noted. First, Reid is working with a rather narrow understanding of what it is for something to be a cause (and to exist)—an understanding, we’ve seen, he thinks fits best with a Newtonian understanding of the world. Second, Reid’s considered view about the role of motives is actually more complicated than (2′) would have us believe. (2′) expresses the view that Reid defends in Essay IV of Essays on the Active Powers, “Of the Liberty of Moral Agents.” But anyone who has read Essay III, “Of the Principles of Action,” knows that Reid claims that motives or “principles of action” divide into three kinds: mechanical, animal, and rational. Mechanical principles of action are what we would call instincts, such as the unreflective impulse to protect oneself from perceived harm. Animal principles of action are a more varied lot. Under this category, Reid places the so-called benevolent affections, such as the affection felt between kin, gratitude to benefactors, pity and compassion, friendship, public spirit, and the like (see EAP III.iii.iv). He also includes the so-called malevolent affections, such as resentment and the desire to dominate others. (In section III, we will see a reason to believe that some animal principles, by Reid’s own lights, are not ones that could be had by the animals.)