About this topic
Summary "Action Theory" as it is used here is the sub-area in the philosophy of action/agency that is concerned chiefly with the foundations of the broader sub-discipline. Central problems include the nature and scope of intentional action and agency, the explanation of action, and our knowledge of our actions. Most of the other problems that fall within the scope of this category at PhilPapers are closely related to such foundational questions.
Key works Perhaps the two most influential works that have shaped the current state of action theory are Anscombe 1957 and Davidson 1963. Davidson's essay is the locus classicus for the causal theory of action and for causalism about reason-explanations of actions. Anscombe's book has been influential among proponents of non-causal theories of action and reason-explanation. For a classic defense of the agent-causal perspective, see Chisholm 1966. And for a volitionist perspective, see McCann 1974. Some collections of essays that may help readers get a sense of the major debates in action theory today include Mele 1997, Aguilar & Buckareff 2010, Aguilar & Buckareff 2009, and D'Oro & Sandis 2013.
Introductions The following are good places to start to for those looking for guides to the current state of the art in action theory. Mele 2005 Mele 1992 Wilson 2008
Related
Subcategories
Specific Agentive Phenomena (1,514 | 179)
Trying (149)
Abilities (103)
Skills (273)
Omissions (131)
Habits (49)
Motivation and Will* (2,097 | 871)
Intentions* (1,920 | 390)
Moral Responsibility* (3,538 | 965)
See also
History/traditions: Action Theory

Contents
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  1. Thing Causation.Nathaniel Baron-Schmitt - forthcoming - Noûs.
  2. Les Logiques de l'agir dans la modernité.André Tosel & Dominique Bourg (eds.) - 1992 - Paris: Diffusion Les Belles Lettres.
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  3. أثر تطور المعرفة العلمية في التقدم التكنولوجي عبر العصور.عبد الرحيم العطري, الصديق الصادقي العماري & إبراهيم بلوح - 2023 - Dirasat: Human and Social Sciences 50 (5):307-318.
    الأهداف: هدفت هذه الملقالة إلى رصد العلاقة الجدلية القائمة بين الملعرفةا لعلمية والتكنولوجيا، من خلال محاولة الكشف عن الارتباط بينهما والوقوف عند أوجه التداخل والتأثير، وإبراز حدود هذه العالقة وخصائصها وأبعادها العلميةوالاجتماعية . المهجية: تبنت الدراسة مقاربة تحليلية ذات طابع سوسيو­ أنثربولوجي. من أجل ذلك جرى الوقوف عند مفهوم الملعرفة، ولملعرفة العلمية، كما جرى استدعاء مجموعةمن المواقف النظرية في تخصصات مختلفة لتبيان أثر الملعرفة العلمية في التطور التكنولوجي عبر العصور. النتائج: توصلت الدراسة إلى عدة نتائج أهمها: أن البحث العلمي ساهم (...)
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  4. "How to Think Several Thoughts at Once: Content Plurality in Mental Action".Antonia Peacocke - 2023 - In Michael Brent & Lisa Miracchi Titus (eds.), Mental Action and the Conscious Mind. New York, NY: Routledge. pp. 31-60.
    Basic actions are those intentional actions performed not by doing any other kind of thing intentionally. Complex actions involve doing one kind of thing intentionally by doing another kind of thing intentionally. There are both basic and complex mental actions. Some complex mental actions have a striking feature that has not been previously discussed: they have several distinct contents at once. This chapter introduces and explains this feature, here called “content plurality.” This chapter also argues for the philosophical significance of (...)
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  5. Epistemic control without voluntarism.Timothy R. Kearl - 2023 - Philosophical Issues 33 (1):95-109.
    It is tempting to think (though many deny) that epistemic agents exercise a distinctive kind of control over their belief‐like attitudes. My aim here is to sketch a “bottom‐up” model of epistemic agency, one that draws on an analogous model of practical agency, according to which an agent's conditional beliefs are reasons‐responsive planning states that initiate and sustain mental behavior so as to render controlled.
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  6. Accessing Self-Control.Polaris Koi - 2023 - Erkenntnis 88 (8):3239-3258.
    Self-control is that which is enacted to align our behaviour with intentions, motives, or better judgment in the face of conflicting impulses of motives. In this paper, I ask, what explains interpersonal differences in self-control? After defending a functionalist conception of self-control, I argue that differences in self-control are analogous to differences in mobility: they are modulated by inherent traits and environmental supports and constraints in interaction. This joint effect of individual (neuro)biology and environmental factors is best understood in terms (...)
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  7. The Logic of Action and Control.Leona Mollica - 2023 - Journal of Philosophical Logic 52 (5):1237-1268.
    In this paper I propose and motivate a logic of the interdefined concepts of making true and control, understood as intensional propositional operators to be indexed to an agent. While bearing a resemblance to earlier logics in the tradition, the motivations, semantics, and object language theory differ on crucial points. Applying this logic to widespread formal theories of agency, I use it as a framework to argue against the ubiquitous assumption that the strongest actions or options available to a given (...)
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  8. The Deontic Primacy of Actions?Andrew T. Forcehimes - 2023 - Journal of Philosophy 120 (10):521-549.
    Why ought we to perform the actions that we ought to perform? We can categorize the various answers to this question depending on whether they hold that the oughts governing actions are explained by the oughts governing non-actions. In this essay, I show how a handful of plausible claims from normative ethics, moral psychology, and the philosophy of action entail the conclusion that what an agent ought to do is explained by the attitudes she ought to have.
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  9. 从量子物理看王阳明哲学 [The Philosophy of Wang Yangming in View of Quantum Physics].David Bartosch - 2010 - In Qian Ming 钱明 (ed.), 阳明学派研究——阳明学派国际学术研讨会论文集 [Studies in the Wang Yangming School of Thought: Collected Papers of the International Academic Seminar on the Wang Yangming School of Thought]. Hangzhou 杭州: Jiuzhou Chubanshe 九州出版社. pp. 36-44. Translated by Peng Bei 彭蓓.
  10. Virtue Ethics and Action Guidance.Joshua Duclos - manuscript
    Virtue ethics has been dogged by the objection that it lacks the ability to provide adequate action-guidance, that it is agent-centered rather act-centered. Virtue ethics has also been faulted for devolving into moral cultural relativism. Rosalind Hursthouse has presented an action-based, naturalistic theory of virtue ethics intended to defuse these charges. Despite its merits, I argue that Hurthouse’s theory fails to successfully solve the problems associated with action guidance and relativism precisely because her attempt to provide a non-cultural basis for (...)
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  11. Non-cognitivism and motivation.Nick Zangwill - 2009 - In Constantine Sandis (ed.), New essays on the explanation of action. Palgrave-Macmillan.
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  12. Trying and acting.Brian O'Shaughnessy - 2009 - In Lucy O'Brien & Matthew Soteriou (eds.), Mental actions. Oxford University Press.
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  13. Two kinds of agency.Pamela Hieronymi - 2009 - In Lucy O'Brien & Matthew Soteriou (eds.), Mental actions. Oxford University Press.
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  14. The possibility of practical reason.James David Velleman - 2000 - [Ann Arbor, Mich.]: Michigan Publishing.
    The Possibility of Practical Reason explores the foundational questions of moral psychology: How can any of our behavior qualify as acting for a reason? How can any considerations qualify as reasons for us to act? David Velleman argues that both possibilities depend on there being a constitutive aim of action―something that makes for success in action as such. These twelve essays―five of which were not included in the previous edition, two of them previously unpublished―discuss topics such as freedom of the (...)
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  15. L'usage et le monde.François Loiret - 2015 - Paris: Éditions Kimé.
    A part une thématisation limitée chez Michel Foucault, quelques références chez Giorgio Agamben, le concept d'usage n'a pas été étudié de près depuis 1927 si l'on excepte l'étude historique à portée théologique de Christian Gnilka, Chrésis, Die Methode der Kirchenväter in Umgang mit der antiken Kultur, I Der Begriff des rechten Gebrauchs, (Schwabe § Co AG Verlag, Basel/Stuttgart, 1984). Si nous nous référons à la date de 1927, c'est qu'il nous semble que la seule pensée de l'usage dans la philosophie (...)
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  16. L'usage et la joie.François Loiret - 2015 - Paris: Éditions Kimé.
    Faisant suite à une étude intitulée L'usage et le monde, la présente étude déploie la richesse de la pensée augustinienne et franciscaine de l'usage à partir de l'étude des oeuvres d'Augustin et de Pierre Jean Olivi dans leurs intimes corrélations à une pensée de la volonté. Elle a pour centre la distinction de l'usus et de la fruitio telle qu'elle se met en place dans l'oeuvre d'Augustin et sa répétition au XIIIe siècle. La première partie déploie la compréhension augustinienne de (...)
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  17. Agire o non agire?: strategie di pensiero/azione in Oriente e Occidente.Pietro Piro & Pietro Chierichetti (eds.) - 2015 - Milano: Edizioni Unicopli.
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  18. Tun oder Nichttun: zwei Formen des Handelns.Corinne Michaela Flick (ed.) - 2015 - Göttingen: Wallstein.
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  19. Linguaggio e lavoro nel XXI secolo: natura e storia di una relazione.Angelo Nizza - 2020 - Milano: Mimesis.
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  20. Begriffssysteme und Handlungssysteme: handlungstheoretische Grundlegung zu einer methodischen Lehre vom Begriff.Jan Podacker - 2021 - Paderborn: Brill / Mentis.
    Die Rede über Begriffe ist keine Rede über Wörter, sondern über Regeln, die unser Handeln bestimmen. Für die Philosophie ist eine Explikation der Begriffsrede sowie von Verfahren der Analyse und Bildung von Begriffen ein grundlegendes Anliegen. Es wird dafür argumentiert, dass die sprachtheoretische Tradition das Begriffliche zu einseitig betrachtet. Kontrastierend werden aus der philosophischen Tradition diejenigen ideengeschichtlichen Linien herausgearbeitet (von Platon über Kant bis zu Wittgenstein, Dingler und Lorenzen), in welchen die Begriffe und das Begreifen als eine Sache des Handelns (...)
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  21. Слепые тени Нарцисса.Roberto Thomas Arruda - 2023 - São Paulo: Terra à Vista.
    В данной работе рассматриваются важнейшие вопросы о коллективном воображаемом и его отношениях с реальностью и истиной. Сначала мы рассмотрим эту тему в концептуальных рамках, а затем проведем соответствующий фактологический анализ наглядных поведенческих реалий. Мы будем опираться не только на методологию, но и, главным образом, на постулаты и положения аналитической философии, которые, безусловно, будут проявляться на протяжении всего исследования и могут быть идентифицированы по признакам, описанным Пересом : Рабосси (1975) отстаивает идею, что аналитическая философия может быть идентифицирована путем рассмотрения некоторых семейных (...)
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  22. Perspectivas éticas del concepto placer. Un contraste entre Aristipo de Cirene y Epicuro de Samos.Estiven Valencia Marin - 2019 - Dissertation, Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira
    En principio es el placer un tema históricamente tratado, aunque moralmente recusado, mas con el abordaje teórico de pensadores cirenaicos y epicúreos tal concepto acabó por situarse en una defensa del mismo, hecho que resignifica a esa expresión tan censurada en el filosofar griego de antaño. De igual manera, el uso de sinonimias como gozo, fruición, bienestar, entre otros conceptos para referirse al placer, posicionan una vez más a este como elemento valioso en el tratamiento filosófico ulterior a las nociones (...)
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  23. Intelectualismo ético de Platón. La relación de gnoseología y ética desde República VII.Estiven Valencia Marín - 2021 - Análisis 53 (98):307-325.
    El conocimiento ha incursionado como tema de gran alcance dadas las múltiples disciplinas que lo evocan y cuyos intereses investigativos incurren en una definición para este. Primeras cavilaciones acerca del conocimiento se adelantaron bajo una óptica dualista de materialismo e idealismo, ambas posturas de carácter filosófico que determinaron el pensar de Occidente. Dicho así, desde la Grecia clásica pensadores como Platón, entre otros clásicos, entronizaron esta cuestión, pero dicho trato dualista en el ámbito del saber estuvo fuertemente vinculado con una (...)
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  24. Aktualisma.Rasmus Bjørgmose - 1971 - Odense,: Nordisk Litteratur Forlag, (D.B.K.).
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  25. Treść przygotowania teoretycznego a struktura szynności praktycznych.Maria Materska - 1972 - Wrocław,: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich.
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  26. Metafísica del conocimiento y de la acción.Porras Rengel & F. Juan - 1976 - Caracas: Universidad Central de Venezuela, Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Políticas.
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  27. La Sémantique de l'action.Paul Ricœur & Dorian Tiffeneau (eds.) - 1977 - Paris: Éditions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique.
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  28. Poni︠a︡tie dei︠a︡telʹnosti v filosofskoĭ nauke.Valeriĭ Nikolaevich Sagatovskiĭ (ed.) - 1978
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  29. Strukturen pädagogischer Handlungstheorie: Dilthey, geisteswissenschaftliche Pädagogik, Mead, Habermas, Erlanger Schule.Friedhelm Brüggen - 1980 - München: K. Alber.
  30. O pewnym modelu działania i dwu jego aplikacjach.Ryszard Wawrzyńczak - 1985 - Wrocław: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich.
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  31. Handlung, Identität, Verstehen: von der Handlungstheorie zur Geisteswissenschaft.Christoph Hubig - 1985 - Weinheim: Beltz.
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  32. Poznanie i praktika v strukture dei︠a︡telʹnosti.V. I︠A︡ Vilʹchinskiĭ - 1988 - Riga: "Zinatne".
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  33. Radnja i objašnjenje.Nenad Miščević - 1988 - Zagreb: Hrvatsko filozofsko društvo.
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  34. Razum, voli︠a︡, uspekh: o filosofii postupka.G. L. Tulʹchinskiĭ - 1990 - Leningrad: Izd-vo Leningradskogo universiteta.
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  35. Dei︠a︡telʹnostʹ: teorii, metodologii︠a︡, problemy.I. T. Kasavin (ed.) - 1990 - Moskva: Izd-vo polit. lit-ry.
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  36. Kulʹtura, istorii︠a︡, lichnostʹ: vvedenie v filosofii︠u︡ postupka.A. K. Shevchenko - 1991 - Kiev: Nauk. dumka.
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  37. A cselekvés lélektana.Hildebrand Dezső Várkonyi - 1948 - Budapest: Országos Pedagógiai Könyvtár és Múzeum.
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  38. Osoba i czyn, oraz inne studia antropologiczne.John Paul - 1994 - Lublin: Wydawn. Tow. Nauk. Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelskiego. Edited by Tadeusz Styczeń.
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  39. Agency and causal explanation.Jennifer Hornsby - 1997 - In Alfred R. Mele (ed.), The philosophy of action. Oxford University Press.
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  40. Mechanism, purpose, and explanatory exclusion.Jaegwon Kim - 1997 - In Alfred R. Mele (ed.), The philosophy of action. Oxford University Press.
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  41. Intentional action.Alfred R. Mele & Paul K. Moser - 1994 - In The philosophy of action. Oxford University Press.
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  42. Two faces of intention.Michael Bratman - 1997 - In Alfred R. Mele (ed.), The philosophy of action. Oxford University Press.
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  43. Acting for reasons.Robert Audi - 1997 - In Alfred R. Mele (ed.), The philosophy of action. Oxford University Press.
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  44. Reasons explanation of action : an incompatibilist account.Carl Ginet - 1997 - In Alfred R. Mele (ed.), The philosophy of action. Oxford University Press.
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  45. Actions, reasons, and causes.Donald Davidson - 1963 - In Alfred R. Mele (ed.), The philosophy of action. Oxford University Press.
  46. La vía de la acción: el hacer justo y corrector frente al desorden activista.Antonio Medrano - 1998 - Majadahonda (Madrid): Yatay.
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  47. I︠A︡zyk teorii dei︠a︡telʹnosti--stanovlenie.Oleg Sergeevich Anisimov - 2001 - Moskva: Izd-vo "Agro-Vestnik".
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  48. I︠A︡zyk teorii dei︠a︡telʹnosti--problemy transli︠a︡t︠s︡ii.Oleg Sergeevich Anisimov - 2003 - Moskva: [S.N.].
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  49. Irrationality and Indecision.Jan-Paul Sandmann - 2023 - Synthese 201 (137):1-20.
    On the standard interpretation, if a person holds cyclical preferences, the person is prone to acting irrationally. I provide a different interpretation, tying cyclical preferences not to irrationality, but to indecision. According to this alternative understanding – coined the indecision interpretation – top cycles in a person’s preferences can be associated with a difficulty in justifying one’s choice. If an agent’s justificatory impasse persists despite attempts to resolve the cycle, the agent can be deemed undecided. The indecision interpretation is compatible (...)
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  50. El concepto de pena natural en la doctrina y la jurisprudencia penal.Manuel Francisco Serrano - 2023 - Bernal: Universidad Nacional de Quilmes.
    La pena natural es una situación paradójica que se puede presentar cuando el autor de un delito, al cometerlo o a causa de éste, ha sufrido un daño igual o mayor al que padecería si el juez de la causa le aplicara la pena estatal prevista para tal conducta. Se da con frecuencia al juzgar ciertos accidentes viales, cuando el acusado ya carga el peso de ser quien, por imprudencia, mató a su pareja o familiar cercano, por ejemplo. Pero ¿en (...)
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1 — 50 / 9901