 Second, even if the same reason sometimes answers the two questions about motivation and explanation, this is not always so. Although a reason that motivates an action can always explain it, a reason that can explain the action is not always the reason that motivates it. For example, that he is jealous is a reason that explains why Othello kills Desdemona. But that is not the reason that motivates him to kill her. This example may appear not to be to the point because an explanation that refers to his jealousy is not a rationalisation of Othello’s action: it doesn’t explain his action by citing his reason. That is right and yet the example still shows that not all reasons that explain by citing psychological factors, e.g., jealousy, are reasons that motivate. Moreover, knowing that Othello acted out of jealousy gives an indication of Othello’s reason (Desdemona’s suspected unfaithfulness) and yet the reason of jealousy is not Othello’s motivating reason. Besides, the explaining and motivating reasons may differ even in cases where the reason that explains makes reference to the reason that motivates. For suppose that John punches Peter because he finds out that Peter has betrayed him. The fact that John knows that Peter has betrayed him is a reason that explains John’s action. This is an explanatory reason. But that fact about John’s mental state of knowledge is not the reason for which John punches Peter. That reason is a fact about Peter, namely that he has betrayed John. That is the reason that motivates John to punch Peter—his motivating reason. So in this case we have two different (though related) reasons: that Peter has betrayed John and that John knows that Peter has betrayed him, which play different roles. One reason motivates John to punch Peter (the betrayal); and the other explains why he does it (the knowledge of the betrayal). To be sure, the latter reason explains by reference to the former. Nonetheless, these are different reasons that answer different questions about motivation and explanation, respectively.