Essays on actions and events / Donald Davidson.

By:

Davidson, Donald, 1917-2003

Material type: Text

TextPublication details: Oxford : Clarendon Press, 2001.Edition: 2nd edDescription: xxi, 324 p. ; 23 cmISBN:

0199246262
0199246270
9780199246274

Subject(s):

DDC classification:

128.4

Summary: "Donald Davidson has prepared a new edition of his classic 1980 collection of Essays on Actions and Events, including two additional essays. In this seminal investigation of the nature of human action, Davidson argues for an ontology which includes events along with persons and other objects. Certain events are identified and explained as actions when they are viewed as caused and rationalized by reasons; these same events, when described in physical, biological, or physiological terms, may be explained by appeal to natural laws. The mental and the physical thus constitute irreducibly discrete ways of explaining and understanding events and their causal relations. Among the topics discussed are: freedom to act; weakness of the will; the logical form of talk about actions, intentions, and causality; the logic of practical reasoning; Hume's theory of the indirect passions; and the nature and limits of decision theory. The introduction, cross-references, and appendices emphasize the relations between the essays and point out major matters on which the author has changed his mind."--Provided by the publisher.

Holdings ( 1 )
Title notes ( 2 )

Holdings
Item type	Current library	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode	Item holds
Book - 7-day loan	CYA Library Main Collection	128.4 DAV (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Available		00000009283

Total holds: 0

Includes bibliographical references (p. [313]-319) and index.

"Donald Davidson has prepared a new edition of his classic 1980 collection of Essays on Actions and Events, including two additional essays. In this seminal investigation of the nature of human action, Davidson argues for an ontology which includes events along with persons and other objects. Certain events are identified and explained as actions when they are viewed as caused and rationalized by reasons; these same events, when described in physical, biological, or physiological terms, may be explained by appeal to natural laws. The mental and the physical thus constitute irreducibly discrete ways of explaining and understanding events and their causal relations.
Among the topics discussed are: freedom to act; weakness of the will; the logical form of talk about actions, intentions, and causality; the logic of practical reasoning; Hume's theory of the indirect passions; and the nature and limits of decision theory. The introduction, cross-references, and appendices emphasize the relations between the essays and point out major matters on which the author has changed his mind."--Provided by the publisher.