Key works |
Classic discussions of mental action include James 1890, Ryle & Dennett 1949,
Geach 1957, Taylor 1963, and Williams 1973.
More recently, Strawson 2003 claims that the notion of mental action is severely
limited in its applicability, and Buckareff 2005 argues that Strawson’s account is problematically
restrictive. Proust 2001 presents a definition of
mental acts and defends their explanatory role, Hieronymi 2006 claims that the
formation of beliefs and intentions is less than voluntary and thus differs
from bodily action, McCall 1987 argues that deciding is an action, and Wu 2013 contends
that, borrowing from the work of William James, conscious mental action
is cognitive attention. |