Actions and Movements

Abstract

We present an account of action whose main features are that actions are content properties that agents have in virtue of (i) the bodily movements they effect and (ii) the wider circumstances in which those movements are effected. The account includes definitions of one action being a way of doing another, and of performing one action by performing another. Although this account is intended to form part of a theory of intelligent action, including the deliberate and intentional actions of human agents or of autonomous robots, in this paper we abstract from the information processing and cognitive factors involved in such actions. 1 Introduction Action is the goal of planning, for planning is reasoning about what actions to perform, given certain circumstances, in order to achieve a goal. Most actions, perhaps all, involve movements of an agent's body, or more generally of its movable parts. What is the relationship between actions and movements? Are actions movements that are caused i...