The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Desire is the first major, multi-authored major reference source on the key topics, problems, and puzzles surrounding desire in philosophy. It offers coverage of desire and its importance in metaethics, ethics, the study of wellbeing, the philosophy of mind, and other philosophical subdisciplines as well as in neighboring fields like psychology, economics, and artificial intelligence. Interest in desire as a research area has increased significantly from multiple quarters over the last decade, and this volume will synthesize both this recent research and historical approaches.

Comprising 35 chapters by a diverse team of contributors from all over the globe, the Handbook is divided into six parts:

I. History of Thought on Desire

II. Contemporary Theories of Desire

III. Varieties of Desire

IV. Desire and the Mind

V. Desire, Reasons, and Value

VI. Philosophy of Desire and Other Disciplines

The volume is essential reading for students and researchers in philosophy and adjacent fields who are interested in exploring the nature of desire and its role in theory and practice across a range of topics.

Alex Gregory is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southampton, UK. He is the author of Desire as Belief (2021) and numerous articles on desires, reasons, and value, in venues such as Ergo, Utilitas, and The Australasian Journal of Philosophy. He has most recently published “Take in your Hen: Fittingness and Hedonic Adaptation”, in Philosophers’ Imprint 26 (2026), and his forthcoming book, Fitting Happiness: On the Nature and Normativity of a Central Emotion, will be published in late 2026.