Dretske and the causality of reasons
| Abstract | In his work on reasons Dretske argues that reasons are only worthwhile for having them if they are causally relevant for explaining behaviour, which he elaborates in his representational theory of explanation. The author argues against this view by showing that there are reasons that are relevant for explaining behaviour but not causally relevant. He gives a linguistic foundation of his argumentation and shows that Dretske’s representational theory cannot explain human actions because man does not only perceive things that have already meaning but also assigns meanings to what (s)he perceives and that therefore reasons are fundamentally different from causes | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
  |
| External links |
 Try with proxy. |
| Through your library | Only published papers are available at libraries |
Similar books and articlesFred Dretske (1989). Reasons and Causes. Philosophical Perspectives 3:1-15.
Constantine Sandis (2008). Dretske on the Causation of Behavior. Behavior and Philosophy 36:71-86.
Simon Robertson (2008). Not so Enticing Reasons. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 11 (3):263 - 277.
Fred I. Dretske (1971). Reasons, Knowledge, and Probability. Philosophy of Science 38 (2):216-220.
Jaegwon Kim (1991). Dretske on How Reasons Explain Behavior. In Dretske and His Critics. Cambridge: Blackwell.
D. Sturdee (1997). The Semantic Shuffle: Shifting Emphasis in Dretske's Account of Representational Content. Erkenntnis 47 (1):89-104.
Dennis W. Stampe (1990). Desires as Reasons--Discussion Notes on Fred Dretske's Explaining Behavior: Reasons in a World of Causes. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 50 (4):787-793.
Terence E. Horgan (1991). Actions, Reasons, and the Explanatory Role of Content. In Brian P. McLaughlin (ed.), Dretske and His Critics. Blackwell.
Martin Curd (1983). Some Inconclusive Reasons Against 'Conclusive Reasons'. Philosophy Research Archives 9:293-302.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2009-01-28Total downloads49 ( #22,209 of 556,908 )Recent downloads (6 months)22 ( #2,988 of 556,908 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
