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Ideas from 'Freedom to Act' by Donald Davidson [1973], by Theme Structure

[found in 'Essays on Actions and Events' by Davidson,Donald [OUP 1982,0-19-824637-4]].

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20. Action / C. Motives for Action / 3. Acting on Reason / c. Reasons as causes
19698 Deviant causal chain: a reason causes an action, but isn't the reason for which it was performed
                        Full Idea: A 'deviant causal chain' is when an agent has a reason for performing an action, and for the reason to cause the performance, without that being the reason for which the agent performed it.
                        From: report of Donald Davidson (Freedom to Act [1973]) by Ram Neta - The Basing Relation II
                        A reaction: Davidson's thesis is that 'reasons are causes'. This was a problem he faced. I think this discussion is now obscured by the complex and multi-layered account of action which is emerging from neuroscience.