Skip to main content
Log in

‘By’

A refutation of the Anscombe Thesis

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Linguistics and Philosophy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The paper has two main objectives: first, it presents a new argument against the so-called Anscombe Thesis (if x φ-s by ψ-ing, then x’s φ-ing = x’s ψ-ing). Second, it develops a proposal about the syntax and semantics of the ‘by’-locution.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alvarez M., Hyman J. (1998) Agents and their actions. Philosophy (London, England) 73: 219–243. doi:10.1017/S0031819198000199

    Google Scholar 

  • Annas J. (1976) Davidson and Anscombe on “the same action”. Mind 85: 251–257. doi:10.1093/mind/LXXXV.338.251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anscombe G.E.M. (1963) Intentions (2nd ed). Blackwell, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Anscombe G.E.M. (1979) Under a description. Noûus 13: 218–233. doi:10.2307/2214398

    Google Scholar 

  • Bach K. (1980) Actions are not events. Mind 89: 114–120. doi:10.1093/mind/LXXXIX.353.114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnes E. (1992) Explanatory unification and the problem of asymmetry. Philosophy of Science 59: 558–571. doi:10.1086/289695

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bennett J. (1988) Events and their names. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennett J. (1994) The “Namely” analysis of the “By”-locution. Linguistics and Philosophy 17: 29–51. doi:10.1007/BF00985040

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bennett J. (1995) The act itself. Clarendon Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Bromberger, S. (1966). Why-questions. In R. G. Colodny (Ed.), Mind and cosmos: Essays in contemporary science and philosophy (pp. 86–111). Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. (Reprinted in On what we know we don’t know, pp. 75–100, by S. Bromberger, Ed., 1992, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.)

  • Correia F. (2005) Existential dependence and cognate notions. Philosophia, Munich

    Google Scholar 

  • Cross C.B. (1991) Explanation and the theory of questions. Erkenntnis 34: 237–260. doi:10.1007/BF00385722

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Danto A. (1963) What we can do. The Journal of Philosophy 40: 434–445

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, D. (1971). Agency. In R. Binkley, R. Bronaugh, & A. Marras (Eds.), Agent, action and reason. University of Toronto Press. (Reprinted in Essays on actions and events, pp. 43–61, by D. Davidson, 1980, Oxford: Oxford University Press.)

  • Dray W. (1957) Laws and explanation in history. Clarendon Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Francken P., Lombard L.B. (1992) How not to flip the switch with the floodlight: Causativeinchoatives, the instrumental “With”, and the identity of actions. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 73: 31–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldman A. (1970) A theory of human action. Prentice-Hall, New Jersey

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldman A. (1971) The individuation of action. The Journal of Philosophy 68: 761–774. doi:10.2307/2024949

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hempel C. (1965) Aspects of scientific explanation. Free Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hornsby J. (1980) Actions. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Hornsby J. (2005) Truth without truthmaking entities. In: Beebee H., Dodd J. (eds) Truthmakers— The contemporary debate. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 33–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaworski W. (2009) The logic of how-questions. Synthese 166: 133–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins C. (2006) Knowledge and explanation. Canadian Journal of Philosophy 36: 137–163. doi:10.1353/cjp.2006.0009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, J. (1976). Events as property exemplifications. In M. Brand & D. Walton (Eds.), Action theory. Dordrecht: D. Reidel. (Reprinted in Supervenience and the mind, pp. 33–52, by J. Kim, Ed., 1993, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.)

  • Kim J. (1988) Explanatory realism, causal realism, and explanatory exclusion. Midwest Studies in Philosophy 12: 225–240. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4975.1988.tb00167.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kitcher P. (1981) Explanatory unification. Philosophy of Science 48: 507–531. doi:10.1086/289019

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kriegel U. (2005) Tropes and facts. Metaphysica 5: 83–90

    Google Scholar 

  • Künne W. (2003) Conceptions of truth. Clarendon Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis D. (1986) Causal explanation. In: Lewis D. (eds) Philosophical papers II. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 214–240

    Google Scholar 

  • McFetridge, I. G. (1977/1990). Truth, correspondence, explanation and knowledge. In I. G. McFetridge (Ed.), Logical necessity. London: Longdunn Press.

  • Mellor D.H. (1995) The facts of causation. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Moltmann F. (2003) Nominalizing quantifiers. Journal of Philosophical Logic 32: 445–481. doi:10.1023/A:1025649423579

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morreal J. (1979) The evidential use of Because. Papers in Linguistics (Edmonton) 12: 231–238

    Google Scholar 

  • Parsons T. (1990) Events in the semantics of English. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Sacks, O. (1983). The disembodied lady. (Reprinted in The man who mistook his wife for a hat, by O. Sacks, Ed., 1987, New York: Harper and Row.)

  • Schurz G. (1999) Explanation as unification. Synthese 120: 95–114. doi:10.1023/A:1005214721929

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schnieder B. (2004) The ability to render something false. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 104: 295–303. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9264.2004.00158.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schnieder B. (2006a) A certain kind of trinity: Dependence, substance, explanation. Philosophical Studies 129: 393–419. doi:10.1007/s11098-005-4636-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schnieder B. (2006b) Truth-making without truth-makers. Synthese 152: 21–47. doi:10.1007/s11229-004-7905-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith J.A. (1978) Goldman on act individuation. Australasian Journal of Philosophy 56: 230–241. doi:10.1080/00048407812341241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steward H. (1997) The ontology of mind. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Stoecker R. (1993) Reasons, actions and their relationships. In: Stoecker R. (eds) Reflecting Davidson. de Gruyter, New York, pp 265–286

    Google Scholar 

  • Stoecker, R. (2005). By “By”. In F. Mão de Ferro (Ed.), The explanation of human interpretation. (pp. 335–342). Lissabon: Edições Colibri.

  • Thomson J.J. (1971) The time of a killing. The Journal of Philosophy 68: 115–132. doi:10.2307/2025335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomson J.J. (1977) Acts and other events. Cornell University Press, Ithaca

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Fraassen B.C. (1980) The scientific image. Clarendon Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Vendler, Z. (1967). Facts and events. In Z. Vendler (Ed.), Linguistics and philosophy (pp. 122–146). Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

  • Zimmermann T.E. (1993) Scopeless quantifiers and operators. Journal of Philosophical Logic 22: 545–561. doi:10.1007/BF01349563

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Benjamin Schnieder.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Schnieder, B. ‘By’. Linguist and Philos 31, 649–669 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10988-009-9051-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10988-009-9051-8

Keywords

Navigation