The Philosophy of Action: A Contemporary Introduction

by Sarah K. Paul

This book offers an accessible and inclusive overview of the major debates in the philosophy of action. It covers the distinct approaches taken by Donald Davidson, G.E.M. Anscombe, and numerous others to answering questions like "what are intentional actions?" and "how do reasons explain actions?" Further topics include intention, practical knowledge, weakness and strength of will, self-governance, and collective agency. With introductions, conclusions, and annotated suggested reading lists for each of the ten chapters, it is an ideal introduction for advanced undergraduates as well as any philosopher seeking a primer on these issues.

Genres: Philosophy

216 pages, Hardcover

Published December 30, 2020

About the author

Sarah K. Paul is Associate Dean for Research and Professional Development, as well as Associate Professor of Philosophy at NYU Abu Dhabi.

Reviews

[saml · Rating 2 out of 5]

yep! it's The Philosophy of Action: A Contemporary Introduction

[Brandon DeLucia · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice introduction to the philosophy of action – a field which is often too deep in the weeds, for students to feel qualified to interact with. for a field that branches off so haphazardly, in so many different directions – despite being no older than a century – paul takes a nice stab at organizing major questions and views. her book does nicely to make phil of action more accessible, though supplementing it with a primary text might still be called for: maybe, davidson’s ARC, bratman’s intention plans and practical reasons, or something like those. i also think that it does (and maybe unavoidably, given phil of action’s nature) requires some competency with analytic philosophy of language, plus either mind, epistemology, or metaethics. i think it’s just that the issues in action theory are derivative from those in each of these fields.

i think the book’s relative shortness hurt its accessibility slightly, for i sometimes felt as though she’d moved on from some topics before even starting them. what might have contributed to that, was another small criticism (which i imagine would be bigger, however, had i been less experienced with action theory) was that she didn’t consistently define jargon and complex terms. a noteworthy example here would be ‘cognitivism.’ another observation, which i’m not sure to call a critique, was that it read as rather obvious that she subscribes to the bratman thesis of intentions as plans. the focus on his school of thought was rather heavy, and despite myself finding it convincing, i thought she could’ve represented other popular views better. though maybe, she and i are right, in which case following my suggestion would actually support readers less.

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[Maud van Lier · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is definitely what the title says: an introduction. The many approaches are shortly described without much depth and the focus is mainly on intentional actions, where a lot of new and interesting theories like animal agency, artificial agency and shared agency other than group agency are not or only briefly mentioned. For a 'contemporary' introduction I think it is therefore rather limited and sometimes lacking.