Renewed Questions about the Causal Theory of Action
Renewed Questions about the Causal Theory of Action
This chapter goes into a detailed discussion of the causal theory of action (CTA) and attempts to address the questions that have arisen in recent years. In light of recent developments, the fundamental principles of the CTA are reexamined here. The discussion of recent developments is divided into three parts, each corresponding to the three fundamental principles of the CTA. Criticisms of the CTA are divided between those that refuse to identify actions, even in part, with bodily movements; those that refuse to identify the causes of those bodily movements that are actions as mental states of desire, belief, intention, or the like; and those that deny that the relationship between volitions and the bodily movements that are their objects is causal.
Keywords: causal theory of action, CTA, fundamental principles of the CTA, actions, bodily movements, mental states, volitions, causal
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