Action (philosophy)

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Philosophy of action is chiefly concerned with human action, intending to distinguish between activity and passivity, voluntary, intentional, culpable and involuntary actions, and related questions. Though these issues have been discussed in nearly every era of philosophy, the topic of action began to receive special attention in the 1960's, and is becoming one of the major sub-disciplines in contemporary philosophy. This article is primarily concerned with the more recent developments.

Action in the History of Philosophy

Since action has ties to central human concerns such as responsibility and autonomy, it has been discussed in nearly every philosophical tradition. Furthermore, most metaphysical, epistemological and ethical views carry implications for our understanding of action (and vice-versa). A survey of philosophical discussions of action would therefore amount to a survey of nearly all of philosophy. A brief note must therefore suffice.

Action has been of concern to Western philosophers at least since Aristotle, who wrote about the subject in his Nicomachean Ethics. It is the theme of the Hindu epic Bhagavad Gita, in which the Sanskrit word karma epitomizes personal action. It has nearly always been bound up with Ethics, the study of what actions one ought to perform.

Many branches of Buddhism reject the notion of agency in varying degrees. In these schools of thought there is action, but no agent. Taoism has famously championed "inaction" as an ideal.

Action vs. Mere Behavior

In §621 of the Philosophical Investigations, Wittgenstein posed a question: "What is left over if I subtract the fact that my arm goes up from the fact that I raise my arm?"

The Epistemology of Action

In her short but extremely influential work Intention, G. E. M. Anscombe claimed that we have knowledge of our own actions "without observation."

Philosophers concerned with action

• G. E. M. Anscombe
• Michael Bratman
• John Broome
• August Cieszkowski
• Donald Davidson
• Harry Frankfurt
• David Hume
• Aristotle

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Action, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/action/
• Mele, Alfred (ed.): The Philosophy of Action, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1997

See also

• social action

External links

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry

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