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Introduction

featuring questions from

- zahidnasser

- hespercheung

+ students from 2022–23

challenge

Discover why people act,
individually and jointly.

As you remember, this course is based on a simple challenge.
This part will come later.
Two fundamental questions about action

Question 1

What is the relation between an instrumental action and an outcome to which it is directed?

Standard Answer

The outcome to which an instrumental action is directed is that outcome specified by the intention which caused it.

Question 2

What distinguishes your actions from things that merely happen to you?


Standard Solution

Your actions are those events which stand in an appropriate causal relation to an intention of yours.

[Much of the point of this is to get them to use the glossary.]
∞tip: use the glossary

?

key notion: instrumental action

JoelK57 [2022–3]

Would an involountary action which still aims to achieve a goal (which we may desire), such as coughing to clear our throat, count as an instrumental action? Yes! (if involuntary actions exist)

glossary: An action is instrumental if it happens in order to bring about an outcome.

No mention that it has to be voluntary.
Wait: that was too fast! To be an instrumental action you have to be an action. So our answer assumes, perhaps wrongly, that at least some involuntary actions are actions. If not, we have to change our answer.
So the best thing for us to do is qualify the answer. We want to keep things modular: in saying what instrumental action is, it’s not our job to decide that issue.
Two fundamental questions about action

Question 1

What is the relation between an instrumental action and an outcome to which it is directed?

Standard Answer

The outcome to which an instrumental action is directed is that outcome specified by the intention which caused it.

Question 2

What distinguishes your actions from things that merely happen to you?


Standard Solution

Your actions are those events which stand in an appropriate causal relation to an intention of yours.

Just here Zahid’s question comes in ...

zahidnasser

Regarding Question 1: 'What is the relation between an instrumental action and the outcome or outcomes to which it is directed?'.

It is said that we can coherently answer this question via habitual processes without invoking intention at all,

but I struggle to see how this is possible.

Isn't intention always present in an instrumental action, even if it is just performed ‘out of habit’?

^ there may not be explicit conscious intention, but there will always be some form of underlying intention

Good objection. What to do?
I will aim to challenge this claim in what follows. Whole lecture is in effect an answer. But ...

Reply to zahidnasser

1. intentions are caused by beliefs and desires [premise]

2. intentions only explain actions that are appropriately related to them

3. habitual processes sometimes cause actions contrary to our current desires [tbs]

∴

4. such actions are not explained by intentions

Interested whether this counts as a reply to the objection. If so, just need to establish the second premise.
Note that I am not denying that intentions may always be present, just that they are relevant to determining the relation between the instrumental action and the outcome to which it is directed.
Needs to be shown.
Two fundamental questions about action

Question 1

What is the relation between an instrumental action and an outcome to which it is directed?

Standard Answer

The outcome to which an instrumental action is directed is that outcome specified by the intention which caused it.

Question 2

What distinguishes your actions from things that merely happen to you?


Standard Solution

Your actions are those events which stand in an appropriate causal relation to an intention of yours.

So here we have two philosophical claims. But as you know our aim is to explore how, if at all, these relate to psychological discoveries about why people act.

How do the philosophical theories relate to psychological discoveries about why people act?

case study: habitual and goal directed processes

Lecture 01: There are theoretically coherent models

Lecture 02: ... but does either actually explain any actions?

But I need to start by fixing some terminology between us.