How Many Ways are there Not to Act?

Introduction. The article offers a formal analysis of negative action sentences. The goal of the article is to define the notion of non-action, propose a classification of types of nonaction, and to describe the situations of agentive non-doing.Methodology and sources. We propose to interpret the pa...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: G. V. Karpov
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University 2022-02-01
Series:Дискурс
Subjects:
Online Access:https://discourse.elpub.ru/jour/article/view/464
_version_ 1826569520498606080
author G. V. Karpov
author_facet G. V. Karpov
author_sort G. V. Karpov
collection DOAJ
description Introduction. The article offers a formal analysis of negative action sentences. The goal of the article is to define the notion of non-action, propose a classification of types of nonaction, and to describe the situations of agentive non-doing.Methodology and sources. We propose to interpret the passage from von Wright, which deals with possible interpretations of negative action sentences, as the description of types of non-action. With the help of formal tools of the logic of action, we show the difference between the supposed types of non-action as the difference between the sentences of the subject language, interpreted in different models, each of which sets specific conditions for the choice open to an agent. We offer definitions for the detected types of non-action and illustrate the differences between them with several examples.Results and discussion. We trace the embodiment of von Wright’s original ideas in modern logic of actions and then conclude the existence of a simplified interpretation of refraining in this tradition, which entailed many paradoxes when an agent refrains from everything that she does not do. We show how our analysis expands the scope of possible reactions of an agent, so that the paradox of refraining, noted by the formal and informal schools of research of this phenomenon, becomes vanishes.Conclusion. We propose to consider the list of types of non-action, the definitions of which we obtained as a result of a formal analysis of refraining, to be an exhaustive list of alternatives available to the agent in connection with any possible state of affairs in theory.
first_indexed 2024-04-10T03:22:31Z
format Article
id doaj.art-bdb61dcb5f3845aa8c1b1ec92aae65ae
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2412-8562
2658-7777
language English
last_indexed 2025-03-14T11:40:38Z
publishDate 2022-02-01
publisher Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University
record_format Article
series Дискурс
spelling doaj.art-bdb61dcb5f3845aa8c1b1ec92aae65ae2025-03-02T09:57:03ZengSaint Petersburg Electrotechnical UniversityДискурс2412-85622658-77772022-02-018110.32603/2412-8562-2022-8-1-19-37443How Many Ways are there Not to Act?G. V. Karpov0Saint Petersburg State UniversityIntroduction. The article offers a formal analysis of negative action sentences. The goal of the article is to define the notion of non-action, propose a classification of types of nonaction, and to describe the situations of agentive non-doing.Methodology and sources. We propose to interpret the passage from von Wright, which deals with possible interpretations of negative action sentences, as the description of types of non-action. With the help of formal tools of the logic of action, we show the difference between the supposed types of non-action as the difference between the sentences of the subject language, interpreted in different models, each of which sets specific conditions for the choice open to an agent. We offer definitions for the detected types of non-action and illustrate the differences between them with several examples.Results and discussion. We trace the embodiment of von Wright’s original ideas in modern logic of actions and then conclude the existence of a simplified interpretation of refraining in this tradition, which entailed many paradoxes when an agent refrains from everything that she does not do. We show how our analysis expands the scope of possible reactions of an agent, so that the paradox of refraining, noted by the formal and informal schools of research of this phenomenon, becomes vanishes.Conclusion. We propose to consider the list of types of non-action, the definitions of which we obtained as a result of a formal analysis of refraining, to be an exhaustive list of alternatives available to the agent in connection with any possible state of affairs in theory.https://discourse.elpub.ru/jour/article/view/464non-actionrefrainingtypes of refraininglogic of actionagent
spellingShingle G. V. Karpov
How Many Ways are there Not to Act?
Дискурс
non-action
refraining
types of refraining
logic of action
agent
title How Many Ways are there Not to Act?
title_full How Many Ways are there Not to Act?
title_fullStr How Many Ways are there Not to Act?
title_full_unstemmed How Many Ways are there Not to Act?
title_short How Many Ways are there Not to Act?
title_sort how many ways are there not to act
topic non-action
refraining
types of refraining
logic of action
agent
url https://discourse.elpub.ru/jour/article/view/464
work_keys_str_mv AT gvkarpov howmanywaysaretherenottoact