This collection of previously unpublished essays presents the newest developments in the thought of international scholars working on the explanation of action. The contributions focus on a wide range of interlocking issues relating to agency, deliberation, motivation, mental causation, teleology, interprative explanation and the ontology of actions and their reasons. Challenging numerous current orthodoxies, and offering positive suggestions from a variety of different perspectives, this book provides essential reading for anyone interested in the explanation of action.
Contributors: Maria Alvarez - Annette Baier - Stephen Boulter - Jonathan Dancy - Fred Dretske - Stephen Everson - P.M.S. Hacker - Sean D. Kelly - Joshua Knobe – E. J. Lowe -Richard Moran - Charles Pigden - A.W. Price - Joseph Raz - David-Hillel Ruben - Constantine Sandis - G.F. Schueler - Helen Steward - Ralf Stoecker - Martin J. Stone - Rowland Stout - Frederick Stoutland - Julia Tanney - Nick Zangwill
"This is the most interesting collection of new articles in the philosophy of action for several years, and a clear signal that the orthodoxies of the last forty years are at last giving way to more plausible and fruitful philosophical ideas"
- John Hyman, University of Oxford, UK.
Notes on Contributors
Introduction
PART I: REASONS AND CAUSES
What Must Actions be for Reasons to Explain Them?; F.Dretske
What Kind of Things are Reasons for Action?; S.Everson
Was Sally's Reason for Running From the Bear that She Thought it was Chasing Her?; R.Stout
Con-reasons as Causes; D.H. Ruben
Agential Reasons and the Explanation of Human Behaviour; P.M.S.Hacker
Reasons as Non-causal, Context-placing Explanations; J.Tanney
Interpretive Explanations; G.F.Schueler
Anscombe on the Expression of Intention: An Exegesis; R.Moran & M.J.Stone
Can One Act for a Reason Without Acting Intentionally? ; J.Knobe & S.D.Kelly
Reasons: Explanatory and Normative; J.Raz
Reasons, Desires and Intentional Actions; M.Alvarez
A Niggle at Nagel: Causally Active Desires and the Explanation of Action; C.Pigden
Acting in Character; A.Baier
Aquinas on the Explanation of Action; S.Boulter
Acting for Reasons – A Grass Root Approach; R.Stoecker
PART II: AGENCY AND MORAL PSYCHOLOGY
Sub-Intentional Actions and the Over-Mentalization of Agency; H.Steward
Determinism, Intentional Action, and Bodily Movements; F.Stoutland
Free Agency, Causation, and Action Explanation; E.J.Lowe
Gods and Mental States: The Causation of Action in Ancient Tragedy and Modern Philosophy of Mind; C.Sandis
Aristotle's Conception of Practical Thinking; A.W.Price
Action in Moral Metaphysics; J.Dancy
Non-cognitivism and Motivation; N.Zangwill
Index
CONSTANTINE SANDIS is a senior lecturer in Philosophy at Oxford Brookes University and NYU in London, UK. He works on the philosophy of action and its explanation and is the author of numerous related articles and a forthcoming book (to be published by Palgrave Macmillan). He is currently co-editing, with Timothy O' Connor, A Companion to the Philosophy of Action.
Description
This collection of previously unpublished essays presents the newest developments in the thought of international scholars working on the explanation of action. The contributions focus on a wide range of interlocking issues relating to agency, deliberation, motivation, mental causation, teleology, interprative explanation and the ontology of actions and their reasons. Challenging numerous current orthodoxies, and offering positive suggestions from a variety of different perspectives, this book provides essential reading for anyone interested in the explanation of action.
Contributors: Maria Alvarez - Annette Baier - Stephen Boulter - Jonathan Dancy - Fred Dretske - Stephen Everson - P.M.S. Hacker - Sean D. Kelly - Joshua Knobe – E. J. Lowe -Richard Moran - Charles Pigden - A.W. Price - Joseph Raz - David-Hillel Ruben - Constantine Sandis - G.F. Schueler - Helen Steward - Ralf Stoecker - Martin J. Stone - Rowland Stout - Frederick Stoutland - Julia Tanney - Nick Zangwill
Reviews
"This is the most interesting collection of new articles in the philosophy of action for several years, and a clear signal that the orthodoxies of the last forty years are at last giving way to more plausible and fruitful philosophical ideas"
- John Hyman, University of Oxford, UK.
Contents
Notes on Contributors
Introduction
PART I: REASONS AND CAUSES
What Must Actions be for Reasons to Explain Them?; F.Dretske
What Kind of Things are Reasons for Action?; S.Everson
Was Sally's Reason for Running From the Bear that She Thought it was Chasing Her?; R.Stout
Con-reasons as Causes; D.H. Ruben
Agential Reasons and the Explanation of Human Behaviour; P.M.S.Hacker
Reasons as Non-causal, Context-placing Explanations; J.Tanney
Interpretive Explanations; G.F.Schueler
Anscombe on the Expression of Intention: An Exegesis; R.Moran & M.J.Stone
Can One Act for a Reason Without Acting Intentionally? ; J.Knobe & S.D.Kelly
Reasons: Explanatory and Normative; J.Raz
Reasons, Desires and Intentional Actions; M.Alvarez
A Niggle at Nagel: Causally Active Desires and the Explanation of Action; C.Pigden
Acting in Character; A.Baier
Aquinas on the Explanation of Action; S.Boulter
Acting for Reasons – A Grass Root Approach; R.Stoecker
PART II: AGENCY AND MORAL PSYCHOLOGY
Sub-Intentional Actions and the Over-Mentalization of Agency; H.Steward
Determinism, Intentional Action, and Bodily Movements; F.Stoutland
Free Agency, Causation, and Action Explanation; E.J.Lowe
Gods and Mental States: The Causation of Action in Ancient Tragedy and Modern Philosophy of Mind; C.Sandis
Aristotle's Conception of Practical Thinking; A.W.Price
Action in Moral Metaphysics; J.Dancy
Non-cognitivism and Motivation; N.Zangwill
Index
Authors
CONSTANTINE SANDIS is a senior lecturer in Philosophy at Oxford Brookes University and NYU in London, UK. He works on the philosophy of action and its explanation and is the author of numerous related articles and a forthcoming book (to be published by Palgrave Macmillan). He is currently co-editing, with Timothy O' Connor, A Companion to the Philosophy of Action.
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