Steward, H. (2000) Do actions occur inside the body? Mind & Society, 1 (2). pp. 107-125.
Abstract
The paper offers a critical examination of Jennifer Hornsby's view that actions are internal to the body. It focuses on three of Hornsby's central claims: (P) many actions are bodily movements (in a special sense of the word “movement”) (Q) all actions are tryings; and (R) all actions occur inside the body. It is argued, contra Hornsby, that we may accept (P) and (Q) without accepting also the implausible (R). Two arguments are first offered in favour of the thesis (Contrary-R): that no actions occur inside the body. Three of Hornsby's arguments in favour of R are then examined. It is argued that we need to make a distinction between the causes and the causings of bodily movements (in the ordinary sense of the word “movement”) and that actions ought to be identified with the latter rather than the former. This distinction is then used to show how Hornsby's arguments for (R) may be resisted.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2000 Springer. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Mind and Society. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science (Leeds) > School of Philosophy (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Leeds Philosophy Department |
Date Deposited: | 05 Oct 2007 12:41 |
Last Modified: | 08 Feb 2013 16:55 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02512316 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Verlag |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/BF02512316 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:3343 |