Abstract
Recent experimental fi ndings by Knobe and others ( Knobe, 2003;
Nadelhoffer, 2006b; Nichols and Ulatowski, 2007 ) have been at the center of a
controversy about the nature of the folk concept of intentional action. I argue that the
signifi cance of these fi ndings has been overstated. My discussion is two-pronged. First,
I contend that barring a consensual theory of conceptual competence, the signifi cance
of these experimental fi ndings for the nature of the concept of intentional action cannot
be determined. Unfortunately, the lack of progress in the philosophy of concepts casts
doubt on whether such a consensual theory will be found. Second, I propose a new,
defl ationary interpretation of these experimental fi ndings, ‘ the trade-off hypothesis ’ , and
I present several new experimental fi ndings that support this interpretation.