The Identities of Action - How the Normative Valence of Consequences Matters for Act Evaluation

Individuating action depends upon how people comprehend value judgements about the consequences of an action to distinguish-or not to distinguish-between them. The question "what is action?" cannot be fully addressed until it is established whether two action descriptions-whether in law, business, insurance policies, or ordinary conversation-refer to the same or different actions. This book approaches the problem of action individuation by arguing for a variantist account, where the moral valence of the consequences of an action plays a foundational role in distinguishing between actions. Actions with bad consequences are associated with the originating act from which the action arises; actions with positive consequences are separate from their originating act. When we consider whether a bad or good consequence is identical to an originating action, the normative valence of the consequences of the action matter. Drawing from an empirical assessment that tests non-philosophers'' intuitions about individuating actions, along with real-world examples, Joseph Ulatowski explores the practical and philosophical significance of how we distinguish between actions.

Product details

• Authors: Joseph Ulatowski
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 19.02.2026
• EAN: 9781666955033
• ISBN: 978-1-66695-503-3
• No. of pages: 224
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: general, reference works; PHILOSOPHY / General, PHILOSOPHY / Epistemology, PHILOSOPHY / Ethics & Moral Philosophy, Philosophy, PSYCHOLOGY / Experimental Psychology, Ethics and moral philosophy, Psychological methodology, Philosophy: epistemology & theory of knowledge, Philosophy: epistemology and theory of knowledge, Jurisprudence & Philosophy Of Law