Abstract
In Intentionality and other works, John Searle establishes himself as a leading defender of the view that consciousness of what one is doing is always a component of one’s action. In this paper I focus on problems with Searle’s view to establish that there are actions in which the agent is not at all aware of what she is doing. I argue that any theory that misses this sort of action keeps us from important insights into autonomy, self-knowledge and responsibility.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Arnauld, Antoine: 1641, 'Fourth Objections', in Charles Adam and Paul Tannery (eds.), Oeuvres de Descartes, Vol. VII, Librairie Philosophique J. Vrin, Paris (1996), pp. 196-218. All translations from the Latin are my own.
Boyle, Robert: 1674, 'About the Excellency and Grounds of the Mechanical Hypothesis', in M. A. Stewart (ed.), Selected Philosophical Papers of Robert Boyle, Manchester University Press, New York (1979), pp. 138-154.
Cudworth, Ralph: 1678, The True Intellectual System of the Universe, Garland Publishers, New York (1976).
Descartes, Rene: 1641a, 'First Replies', in Charles Adam and Paul Tannery (eds.), Oeuvres de Descartes, Vol. VII, Librairie Philosophique J. Vrin, Paris (1996), pp. 101-121.
Descartes, Rene: 1641b, 'Fourth Replies', in Charles Adam and Paul Tannery (eds.), Oeuvres de Descartes, Vol. VII, Librairie Philosophique J. Vrin, Paris (1996), pp. 218-256.
Descartes, Rene: 1648, 'For [Arnauld], 29 July 1648', in Charles Adam and Paul Tannery (eds.), Oeuvres de Descartes, Vol. V, Librairie Philosophique J. Vrin, Paris (1996), pp. 219-224.
Dreyfus, Hubert and Wakefield, Jerome: 1991, 'Intentionality and the Phenomenology of Action', in Ernest Lepore and Robert Van Gulick (eds.), John Searle and his Critics, Basil Blackwell, Cambridge MA, pp. 259-270.
Locke, John: 1689, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, edited by P. H. Nidditch, Clarendon Press, Oxford (1975).
Searle, John. 1983, Intentionality, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Searle, John: 1984, Mind, Brains and Science, Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA.
Searle, John: 1991, 'Response: The Background of Intentionality and Action', in Ernest Lepore and Robert van Gulick (eds.), John Searle and His Critics, Basil Blackwell, Cambridge MA, pp. 293-295.
Searle, John: 1992, The Rediscovery of Mind, MIT Press, Cambridge MA.
Wittgenstein, Ludwig: 1958, The Blue and Brown Book, Harper & Row, New York.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cunning, D. Agency And Consciousness. Synthese 120, 271–294 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005192006642
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005192006642