Narratives and Action Explanation

Philosophy of the Social Sciences 42 (1):31-67 (2012)
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Abstract

This article discusses an epistemological problem faced by causal explanations of action and a proposed solution. The problem is to justify why one particular reason rather than another is specified as causally efficacious. It is argued that the problem arises independently of one’s preferred conception of singular causal claims, psychological and psychophysical generalizations, and our folk-psychological competence. The proposed fallibilist solution involves the supplementation of the reason given by narratives that contextualize it and provide additional criteria for justifying the causal claim. It is argued that narratives have a distinctive structure that can afford the justification of causal attributions without sui generis powers of narrative explanation having to be invoked

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Thomas Uebel
University of Manchester

Citations of this work

Free will, narrative, and retroactive self-constitution.Roman Altshuler - 2015 - Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 14 (4):867-883.
The Cognitive Function of Narratives.Karsten R. Stueber - 2015 - Journal of the Philosophy of History 9 (3):393-409.
Actions, Reasons and Narratives.Thomas Uebel - 2012 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 55 (1):82 - 101.

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References found in this work

After virtue: a study in moral theory.Alasdair C. MacIntyre - 2007 - Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press.
Actions, Reasons, and Causes.Donald Davidson - 1963 - Journal of Philosophy 60 (23):685.

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