Analytical Philosophy of Action

A study of the philosophical problems associated with the concept of action. Professor Danto is concerned to isolate logically the notion of a ''basic action'' and to examine the way in which context and intention for example can convert physiological movements into significant actions. He finds many suggestive parallels between the concepts - the logical architecture - of action and cognition and in developing this theme he becomes involved in and proposes new approaches to various long-standing problems connected with causality determinism and materialism. As in his earlier books Analytical Philosophy of History and Analytical Philosophy of Knowledge Professor Danto places the discussion in a broad historical and philosophical perspective and brings to it a wide reading and an unusual range of interests. He is always prepared to venture novel ideas to stimulate further debate and research and the book as a whole is presented as an original contribution to a subject which is attracting increasing attention from philosophers and from psychologists with an interest in the conceptual assumptions behind their work.