Five studies in action theory

The essays presented in this collection were written over a long period. The first two : "On the Classification of Verbs and Actions" and "On von Wright's Theory of Action" constitute steps in my preparation for the book Events, Actions, and Ordinary Language, Lund 1977. Much of the contents of the former paper was carried over to the book, whereas the analyses in the latter paper were more or less completely left out. These papers have not been published before . "On Various Forms of Interaction" is a development of soroe ideas in Events, Actions, and Ordinary Language. This paper was previously published in Swedish in Henschen-Dahlqvist A-M ed. Filosofiska smulor, Festskrift tillägnad Kon rad Marc- Wogau på hans 75-årsdag, Uppsala 1977. "Action- Explanations Reconsidered" was wri t ten in 1981 and has not been previously published . It is a short presentation of a basic idea in my dissertation Explanation of Human Actions, Uppsala 1974, as well as a commentary on sorne criticisrns that could be (and partly have been) directed against it . "On Not Being Able To Act", finally, is a slightly modified version of a paper previously published in Pauli T. ed <320311>, Philosophical essays dedicated to Lennart Åqvist on his fiftieth birthday, Uppsala 1982. The analysis sketched in this paper has been more fully developed in my Disabilities and Their Classification, Linköping 1983.This publication contents of five essays:On the Classification of Verbs and ActionsOn von Wright's Theory of ActionOn Various Forms of InteractionAction-Explanations ReconsideredOn Not Being Able To Act