The Philosophy of Action An Introduction CARLOS J. MOYA Polity PressCopyright © 1990 Carlos J. Moya First published 1990 by Polity Press in association with Basil Blackwell Editorial office: Polity Press 65 Bridge Street, Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK Marketing and production: Basil Blackwell Ltd 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX¢4 IJF, UK All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in w! published and wi i including this condi subsequent purchaser. ISBN 0 7456 0746 2 ISBN 0 7456 0747 0 (pbk) British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A GIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Typeset in 10% on 12 pt Baskerville by Hope Services (Abingdon) Ltd. Printed in Great Britain by Billings & Sons Ltd, Worcester.Contents Acknowledgements Introduction 1 Actions and Happenings 1.1 Agency 1.2 The Search for Agency 1.3 Basic Actions The New Volitional Theory 2.1 Hugh McCann: Basic Actions are Volitions 2.2 Brian O'Shaughnessy: Trying, Mind and Body 2.3 Jennifer Hornsby: Actions are Tryings 2.4 Summary Some Remarks about the Ontology of Actions Meaningful Actions Agency and Intentional Action The Intentionality of Mind Intentionality and Science Laws and Explanation of Actions: P. M. Churchland Laws and Prediction of Actions: Decision Theory 37 49 61 70 80 91