Abstract
I will start by explaining how recent disputes over the scope of instrumental requirement can be framed as a more general debate over two competing conceptions of instrumental rationality (IR), i.e. the coherence in one's desires about an end and the means to it, and the executive ability to realize one's desires by desiring and taking relevant means.
I will then argue for the executive conception of IR by examining the widely-accepted thesis that desires based on defected cognitive grounding are rationally problematic even under a purely instrumentalist picture of practical rationality. The proposals on why such desires are objectionable under IR, I contend, can make better sense only under the executive conception of IR. And that presents a positive case for it. I will conclude by exploring the further implications of the executive conception of IR on our understanding of practical rationality and normativity.