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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    The fact that reasons must cause actions in order to expl... — Carmelics
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    Perspectives
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    Home/Consciousness & Mind
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    The fact that reasons must cause actions in order to explain them does not entail that reasons cause physical behavior.

    CausationConsciousness & Mind
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    2 reasons for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
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    • 1.Actions are individuated under intentional descriptions, while physical behavior is individuated under physical descriptions, making them distinct explananda.
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    • 2.Davidson's own token identity thesis entails that the same event can be redescribed, so reasons explaining actions under mental descriptions need not cause behavior under physical descriptions.
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    • 3.Explanation is description-relative: what reasons explain is the action qua intentional event, not the bodily movement qua physical occurrence.
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    Reason for 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Anscombe's account in 'Intention' establishes that rational explanation terminates in the agent's reasons, not in neurophysiological causes of muscular contractions.
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    • 2.If the causal sufficiency of physical antecedents already explains bodily movement, then reasons are explanatorily redundant with respect to behavior but not with respect to action under intentional description.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.The 'because' argument holds that reasons must cause actions in order to explain those actions.
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    • 2.Davidson rejects the possibility of analyzing action solely in terms of behavior caused in a particular way by reasons.
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    • 3.Actions are not straightforwardly identical to physical behavior.
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    Topics

    Consciousness & MindCausation

    Connections

    2 topics

    Moral Responsibility3 linkedPersonal Identity1 linked

    Related

    Actions are individuated under intentional descriptions, while physical behavior...Actions are not straightforwardly identical to physical behavior.Anscombe's account in 'Intention' establishes that rational explanation terminat...Davidson rejects the possibility of analyzing action solely in terms of behavior...
    +5 moreShow less
    Davidson's own token identity thesis entails that the same event can be redescri...Explanation is description-relative: what reasons explain is the action qua inte...If the causal sufficiency of physical antecedents already explains bodily moveme...

    Similar

    It does not follow from reasons being necessary for action-explanation...89%Establishing that reasons causally interact with actions does not esta...87%If reasons explain actions, they do so by causing those actions86%The 'because' argument holds that reasons must cause actions in order ...86%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: anomalous-monism
    View source passageHide passage
    A key point to grasp in many of the issues raised by Anomalous Monism is that there is an important distinction between action and behavior. According to Davidson, action is intentionally described behavior—the moving of a hand through space in a certain way may, but need not, be an action of waving or swatting or any action at all. It may simply be mere bodily behavior—as happens as the result of a muscle twitch or a strong gust of wind. The behavior must be caused by an agent’s beliefs and des
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    It does not follow from reasons being necessary for action-explanation that reas...
    The 'because' argument holds that reasons must cause actions in order to explain...
    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (2 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit