The theory of action is the field of philosophical research, the subject of which is action, primarily human action. The center of modern discussions is the nature of actions, their adequate description and explanation [1] .
The theory of action in philosophy should be distinguished from the sociological theory of action of Talcott Parsons .
Content
- 1 History of action theory
- 2 Review of the main problems of the theory of action
- 3 notes
- 4 Literature
History of Action Theory
The theory of action as a philosophical discipline was formed in the 20th century, but previously many philosophers, starting from antiquity , were engaged in the study of action. So, Aristotle in “ Nicomachean Ethics ” conducts research on the concepts of “action” and “goal”. In the Middle Ages, the problems of action, often in a theological context, were addressed by Thomas Aquinas , John Duns Scott , William Ockham and others, and the study of action was the subject of consideration in other traditions, for example, in Arab-Muslim philosophy [2] . In modern philosophy, the theory of action has acquired independent significance in connection with the development of the philosophy of consciousness . An important role in the development of the theory of action was played by controversy caused by the monograph Intentia (1957) by G. E. M. Enskoy and the book Essays on Actions and Events (1980) by D. Davidson .
At present, the theory of action is a borderline subdiscipline between practical and theoretical philosophy. It is relevant both to the philosophy of consciousness, and to ethics and certain issues of metaphysics .
Review of the main problems of action theory
For action as a separate act of activity, purposefulness, arbitrariness and intentionality of individual activity are characteristic [2] .
Many theories of action are causal , that is, the existence of a cause of action is assumed. In addition, mental acts (for example, solving a mathematical problem) can also be considered as actions. Reflexes and passive movements (for example, someone raises my hand) are not considered actions. However, an outside observer may consider involuntary movements (for example, in the case of someone else’s syndrome ) for actions, so the question of what actions and intentions should be so that actions can be considered intentional is discussed.
There are weaknesses in the causal theory of action. For example, the problem of deviant causal chains is known, if intent ultimately leads to a random action - for this action various descriptions of its cause are possible.
Notes
Literature
- GEM Anscombe. Intention. Oxford 1957.
- Georg Henrik von Wright. Norm and Action. London 1963
- Alvin I. Goldman. A Theory of Human Action. Englewood Cliffs 1970
- Hector-Neri Castaneda. Thinking and Doing, The Philosophical Foundations of Institutions. Dordrecht 1975/1982
- Donald Davidson Essays on Actions and Events. Oxford 1980
- Jennifer Hornsby. Actions London 1980
- Jonathan Bennett. Events and Their Names. Oxford 1988
- Sebastian Rödl. Kategorien des Zeitlichen. Frankfurt am main 2005
- Anton Leist. Action in Context. Berlin und New York 2007
- Michael Thompson Life and Action. Massachusetts 2008