β Scribed by David Rayfield (auth.)
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
During the past decade, there has been considerable interest among philosophers in providing a philosophically satisfactory and helpful anaΒ lysis of a particular type of human behavior called action. As I see it, this interest is a renewal of the efforts of Aristotle, in Ethica Nicomachea, to provide an analysis of voluntary action. Because of this, and because Aristotle's distinctions regarding voluntriety are fundamentally correct, what follows is in some ways a discussion in praise of Aristotle. But I have also argued for an analysis of action which will go some way toward withstanding criticism which can be brought against Aristotle's work as well as criticism which can be brought against the more conΒ temporary efforts of others in the same subject. In Chapter Two, I argue for four conditions which are, when met, jointly necessary and sufficient for a particular item of human behavior on a particular occasion to qualify as a human action. The analysis does not allow us to determine that a particular kind of behavior, such as killing, is always an action.
Front Matter....Pages I-VIII
Introduction....Pages 1-6
Action....Pages 7-23
Choosing, Deciding, and Doing....Pages 24-38
Acting, Doing, and Responsibility....Pages 39-58
On Describing Actions....Pages 59-70
Voluntary and Intentional Behavior....Pages 71-94
Back Matter....Pages 95-97
Philosophy of Man
π SIMILAR VOLUMES
<i>Concepts in Action</i> focuses on what to do with theoretical concepts, rather than providing conveyed definitions. The book covers a variety of examples what to do, how to think, in order to develop and use concepts in the social sciences.
Ishitaq Ahmed is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science in the University of Stockholm. He is chief editor of Peace and Democracy in South Asia and writes a column in the Pakistani newspaper, The News International. Mr. Ahmedβs books include State, Nation, and Ethnicity in Con