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Actions and other events
the unifier-multiplier controversy
Karl Pfeifer.
Published
1989
by
P. Lang
in
New York
.
Written in English.
About the Book
This book is a general defence of Donald Davidson's and G.E.M. Anscombe's 'unifying' approach to the individuation of actions and other events against objections raised by Alvin I. Goldman and others. It is argued that, ironically, Goldman's rival 'multiplying' account is itself vulnerable to these objections, whereas Davidson's account survives them. Although claims that the unifier-multiplier dispute is not really substantive are shown to be unfounded, some room for limited agreement over the ontological status of events is indicated. Davidson's causal criterion of event identity is then defended against charges of triviality or inadequacy. It is concluded that Davidson's criterion is not primarily a criterion for arriving at particular judgments of individuation, but a metaphysical standard for the correctness of such judgments, however arrived at.
Contents: Unifiers vs. Multipliers - Davidson's individuation of events - Goldman's act generation - causal, 'by'-relational, and temporal problems - ontology and event constituents - Davidson's causal criterion. This book is unique in providing a detailed survey and analysis of the recent unifier-multiplier dispute, and will be of interest to all researchers in action theory, as well as those working more broadly in metaphysics, philosophy of language, and philosophy of mind.
Table of Contents
| 1 | INTRODUCTION | |
| 1.1 | Anscombe's Question | 1 |
| 1.2 | Unifiers vs. Multipliers | 5 |
| 2 | THE UNIFYING APPROACH | |
| 2.1 | Davidson's Approach | 7 |
| 2.2 | Three Major Objections | 10 |
| 3 | THE MULTIPLYING APPROACH AS ALTERNATIVE | |
| 3.1 | Goldman's Account | 15 |
| 3.2 | Goldman and the Three Objections | 22 |
| 4 | A CONSIDERATION OF MODIFICATIONS TO THE MULTIPLYING ACCOUNT | |
| 4.1 | Preamble | 39 |
| 4.2 | An Example Retouched | 41 |
| 4.3 | An Example Untouched | 47 |
| 4.4 | Inclusion Excluded | 54 |
| 4.5 | Counterfactuals Fingered | 60 |
| 5 | THE THREE OBJECTIONS RECONSIDERED | |
| 5.1 | Preamble | 63 |
| 5.2 | The Causal Objection | 64 |
| 5.3 | The Relational Objection | 81 |
| 5.4 | The Temporal Objection | 96 |
| 5.5 | Postscript | 114 |
| 6 | IS THE DISPUTE REAL? | |
| 6.1 | Comparative Phraseology | 117 |
| 6.2 | Some Facts About Values | 125 |
| 7 | FINAL WORDS ON THE MULTIPLIERS | |
| 7.1 | Summary | 133 |
| 7.2 | Some Ontological Matters | 135 |
| 7.3 | The Constituents Conception of Events | 140 |
| 8 | THE CAUSAL CRITERION OF EVENT IDENTITY | |
| 8.1 | Preamble | 153 |
| 8.2 | Is Davidson's Criterion Interesting? | 154 |
| 8.3 | Is Davidson's Criterion True? | 163 |
| 9 | CONCLUSION | |
| 9.1 | Anscombe's Question Revisited | 179 |
| 9.2 | Individuation and Identity | 181 |
| BIBLIOGRAPHY | 189 | |
| INDEX | 199 |
Edition Notes
Bibliography: p. [189]-198.
Includes index.
Series |
American university studies., v. 75 |
Other Titles |
Unifier-multiplier controversy. |
Classifications
Dewey Decimal Class |
128/.4 |
Library of Congress |
B105.A35 P44 1989 |
The Physical Object
Pagination |
203 p. : |
Number of pages |
203 |
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History Created April 1, 2008 · 6 revisions
| April 16, 2010 | Edited by bgimpertBot | Added goodreads ID. |
| April 13, 2010 | Edited by Open Library Bot | Linked existing covers to the edition. |
| December 12, 2009 | Edited by WorkBot | link works |
| September 3, 2009 | Edited by ImportBot | Found a matching record from Library of Congress . |
| April 1, 2008 | Created by an anonymous user | Initial record created, from Scriblio MARC record. |