A Companion to the Philosophy of Action

O'Connor, Timothy / Sandis, Constantine (Editor)

Blackwell Companions to Philosophy

1. Edition April 2010
664 Pages, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd

Short Description

A Companion to the Philosophy of Action provides a comprehensive overview of the central issues and processes relating to human actions. Specially commissioned chapters from international experts cover all facets of philosophy of action - from key figures and terminology to some of the more controversial problems in the field. Divided into thematic sections, the book begins by examining ontological and conceptual issues regarding the nature of action, its description and individuation, and its motivation and causation. This volume offers rich insights into this unique area of philosophical thought.

ISBN: 978-1-4051-8735-0

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A Companion to the Philosophy of Action offers a comprehensive overview of the issues and problems central to the philosophy of action.
* The first volume to survey the entire field of philosophy of action (the central issues and processes relating to human actions)
* Brings together specially commissioned chapters from international experts
* Discusses a range of ideas and doctrines, including rationality, free will and determinism, virtuous action, criminal responsibility, Attribution Theory, and rational agency in evolutionary perspective
* Individual chapters also cover prominent historic figures from Plato to Ricoeur
* Can be approached as a complete narrative, but also serves as a work of reference
* Offers rich insights into an area of philosophical thought that has attracted thinkers since the time of the ancient Greeks

List of Illustrations.

Notes on Contributors.

Acknowledgments.

Introduction.

Part I: Acts and Actions.

Part II: Agency and Causation.

Part III: Action in Special Contexts.

Part IV: Prominent Figures.

Index.

Timothy O'Connor is Professor and Department Chair of philosophy at Indiana University Bloomington, and a member of its Cognitive Sciences program. He has published extensively in metaphysics, philosophy of mind and action, and philosophy of religion. His books include Agents, Causes, and Events: Essays on Indeterminism and Free Will (ed. 1995), Persons and Causes: The Metaphysics of Free Will (2000), Philosophy of Mind: Contemporary Readings (ed. 2003), Theism and Ultimate Explanation: The Necessary Shape of Contingency (2008) and Downward Causation and the Necessity of Free Will (ed. 2010).

Constantine Sandis is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Oxford Brookes University and New York University in London. He is the editor of New Essays on the Explanation of Action (2009) and Hegel on Action (with Arto Laitinen, 2010), and author of The Things We Do and Why We Do Them (2010).

T. O'Connor, Indiana University, USA; C. Sandis, Oxford Brookes University, UK