Causing Human Actions: New Perspectives on the Causal Theory of Action
Jesús H. Aguilar and Andrei A. Buckareff
Abstract
The causal theory of action (CTA) is widely recognized in the literature of the philosophy of action as the “standard story” of human action and agency—the nearest approximation in the field to a theoretical orthodoxy. This book brings together work on action theory today and discusses issues relating to the CTA and its applications, which range from experimental philosophy to moral psychology. Some of the chapters defend the theory while others criticize it; some draw from historical sources while others focus on recent developments; some rely on the tools of analytic philosophy while others ... More
The causal theory of action (CTA) is widely recognized in the literature of the philosophy of action as the “standard story” of human action and agency—the nearest approximation in the field to a theoretical orthodoxy. This book brings together work on action theory today and discusses issues relating to the CTA and its applications, which range from experimental philosophy to moral psychology. Some of the chapters defend the theory while others criticize it; some draw from historical sources while others focus on recent developments; some rely on the tools of analytic philosophy while others cite the latest empirical research on human action. All agree, however, on the centrality of the CTA in the philosophy of action. The chapters first consider metaphysical issues, then reasons-explanations of action, and, finally, new directions for thinking about the CTA. They discuss such topics as the tenability of some alternatives to the CTA; basic causal deviance; the etiology of action; teleologism and anticausalism; and the compatibility of the CTA with theories of embodied cognition. Two chapters engage in an exchange of views on intentional omissions that stretches over four chapters, and there are direct responses in follow-up chapters.
Keywords:
standard story,
CTA,
human action,
theoretical orthodoxy,
action theory,
experimental philosophy,
moral psychology,
analytic philosophy,
philosophy of action
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2010 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780262014564 |
| Published to MIT Press Scholarship Online: August 2013 |
DOI:10.7551/mitpress/9780262014564.001.0001 |
