A New Theory of Intentional Action
Andrea White
Chapter from the book: White, A. 2024. Understanding Mental Causation.
Part of
Chapter from the book: White, A. 2024. Understanding Mental Causation.
Chapter 9 proposes that to act intentionally is to engage in a process, and as such is to exercise a power—but a power of a special sort. The power to act intentionally is a power to structure one’s own activities so that they demonstrate a pattern—a pattern that is only revealed by attributing mental states to the agent. So, when an agent acts intentionally, they engage in the process of causation. The process they engage in counts as mental causation in virtue of the fact that the agent is manifesting a special power to organise their activities so that they instantiate a certain structure, a structure that is made comprehensible by the agent’s mental states.
White, A. 2024. A New Theory of Intentional Action. In: White, A, Understanding Mental Causation. York: White Rose University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22599/White.j
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Published on Dec. 17, 2024