Options
Was Sally's reason for running from the bear that she thought it was chasing her
Author(s)
Date Issued
2008-11
Date Available
2013-11-20T09:00:11Z
Abstract
Sally thinks she is being chased by a bear, and runs away. Let us suppose that running away makes sense in the circumstance.1 It seems clear that her reason for running is that a bear is chasing her. But it also seems that her reason for running is that she thinks a bear is chasing her.2 Indeed it is sometimes asserted that her real reason cannot be that a bear is chasing her, but must be merely that she thinks or believes that a bear is chasing her. For example, Michael Smith has argued as follows:
Given that an agent who has a motivating reason to φ is in a state that is in this way potentially explanatory of her φ-ing, it is then natural to suppose that her motivating reason is itself psychologically real. … By contrast with normative reasons, then, which seem to be truths … motivating reasons would seem to be psychological states, states that play a certain explanatory role in providing action. (Smith 1994, p. 96)
Given that an agent who has a motivating reason to φ is in a state that is in this way potentially explanatory of her φ-ing, it is then natural to suppose that her motivating reason is itself psychologically real. … By contrast with normative reasons, then, which seem to be truths … motivating reasons would seem to be psychological states, states that play a certain explanatory role in providing action. (Smith 1994, p. 96)
Type of Material
Book Chapter
Publisher
Palgrave Macmillan
Copyright (Published Version)
Chapters © their individual authors 2009
Language
English
Status of Item
Not peer reviewed
Journal
Sandis, C. (eds.). New Essays on the Explanation of Action
ISBN
9780230522022 HB
9780230582972 PDF
This item is made available under a Creative Commons License
File(s)
Loading...
Name
Sally's_reason.pdf
Size
88.93 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
533a9561ac7d67c6f4d4a359f78bdf8c
Owning collection