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In support of action

Dale, Catherine Rebecca; (2024) In support of action. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London). Green open access

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Abstract

Needing another agent to support one’s action does not undermine our agency, it often facilitates it. We are not isolated entities, but agents living with and amongst other agents. This thesis spells out how it is that our reliance on others can enable agency and how supporting action can enhance rather than detract from another’s ability to act on their intentions. At its core is a characterization of a familiar and commonplace kind of action, but one that has not been the focus of sustained philosophical investigation. This is what I call dependent intentional action, action in which an agent’s ability to realize their ends relies on another agent directing their agency at those ends, in order to help them. The thesis begins with an exploration of the nature of individual and joint intentional action, offering criteria for them that are compatible with the dominant approaches in the existing literature. I then argue that our moral responsibility for actions relies on being the agent of the action, further showing the importance of bearing this particular relation to an action. Having set out this background, I identify dependent intentional action, characterizing it and arguing for the claim that this is the action of the supported agent, the one that is being helped. In the final chapters of the thesis, I consider the agency of young children. First, I argue that there are no insurmountable barriers to young children engaging in intentional action, either individually or with others. Then I argue that dependent intentional action extends the abilities of young children, allowing them to engage in intentional action even if they cannot do this alone. Taken as a whole, this thesis shows that being helped can enable human agents to do far more than than they can alone.

Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Qualification: Ph.D
Title: In support of action
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © The Author 2024. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Dept of Philosophy
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10196322
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