Springs of Action

In this book, Alfred Mele tackles some central problems in the philosophy of action. His purpose is to construct an explanatory model for intentional behaviour, locating the place and significance of such mental phenomena as beliefs, desires, reasons, and intentions in the etiology of intentional action. Part One comprises a comprehensive examination of the standard treatments of the relations between desires, beliefs, and actions. In Part Two, Mele develops a subtle and well defended view that the motivational role of intentions is of a different sort from that of beliefs and desires. In the final chapter, Mele offers a provocative explanation of how we come to have intentions and elaborates on his earlier work concerning akratic failures of will.