The Paradoxes of Action: (Human Action, Law and Philosophy)

ISBN-13: 9781402016615 / Angielski / Twarda / 2003 / 139 str.

Daniel Gonzalez Lagier

Opis

Through the combined effects of certain natural facts (connected with the passage of time), institutional acts (performed at various points within the university system) and bonds offriendship (forged over quite a number ofyears ofacademic life), I have lately become an occasional writer of forewords. It is certainly not a kind of work that dis pleases me; but it would be too much to say that I have learned to do it with ease. Quite to the contrary Writing a foreword is, it seems to me, an example ofa rather complex action (al though, of course, much less complex than writing the book it accompanies). Infact, it is not even an action; it is rather an activity, carried out over a more or less prolonged period of time and typically including something like the following stages: deciding to write the foreword; carefully reading the book; taking notes; thinking about what would be appropriate aspects to be mentioned; sketching an outline; writing a first draft by hand; writing several corrected versions; typing the last ofthem into the computer; dis tributing it to several colleagues to see how they like it; correcting the text once more; sending it to the author of the book; delivering it to the publisher. Ineach of these ac tions (leaving aside for a moment purely mental actions such as thinking) we can in turn distinguish several components. These are, basically: bodily movements, intentions, and (intentionally or unintentionally produced) changes in the world."

Recenzje

From the reviews:

"Lagier, a Professor of Legal Theory, has a quite different perspective on action to that found in occupational science ... . the view of actions presented in this text is that they are sustained performances. ... the issues raised in the discussion are eminently relevant to occupational science. ... I recommend Lagier's text to occupational science scholars and researchers ... ." (Dr. Clare Hocking, Journal of Occupational Science, Vol. 12 (3), October, 2005)

Spis treści

Foreword; Manuel Atienza. Preface. I: Preliminaries. 1. The Concept of Action and the Traps of Language. 2. The Relevance of the Concepts of Human Action for Ethics and the Law. 3. Human Freedom as a Prerequisite. II: Our Intuitions and the Paradoxes of Action. 1. Introduction. 2. First Paradox: Are Actions Natural Phenomena or Products of Our Worldview? 3. Second Paradox: Are Actions Bodily Movements or Descriptions of Bodily Movements? 4. Third Paradox: Can We be Mistaken about Our Own Actions? 5. Fourth Paradox: Do We Perform Several Actions with One Single Bodily Movement? 6. Fifth Paradox: What Are the Limits of Our Actions? III: The Debate in the Philosophy of Action. 1. The Controversy about the Individuation of Actions. 2. Individuation from the Agent's Point of View; G.H. von Wright. 3. Individuation as Imputation; H.L.A. Hart. 4. Some Conclusions. IV: The Debate in Criminal Law. 1. Introduction. 2. The Definition of 'Action' in Criminal Law Doctrine. 3. The Treatment of Action in Anglo-Saxon Law. 4. Conclusions. V: The Debate in the Philosophy of Language. 1. Introduction. Good Times for Pragmatics. 2. Language Games; Wittgenstein. 4. How to Do Things with Words; J.L. Austin. 5. An Integrative Theory of Speech Acts; J. Searle. 6. Conclusions. VI: The Paradoxes Dissolved. 1. Recapitulation: The Aspects of Action. 2. The Paradoxes of Action Reconsidered. VII: The Structure of Action. 1. Introduction. 2. The Sequence ofBodily Movements. 3. Changes in the World. 4. The Link between a Bodily Movement and a Change in the World. 5. Intention. 6. The Interpretation of Meaning of an Action. VIII: Other Kinds of Action. 1. Introduction. 2. Institutional Actions. 3. Remarks on Omission. Epilogue. Bibliography. Index of Names.