The Paradoxes of Action

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.