TY - JOUR
T1 - The emergence of action
AU - Campbell, Richard
PY - 2010/12
Y1 - 2010/12
N2 - How does the concept of action fit within a scientifically serious world-view? This paper argues that the category of action, with its goal-seeking and orientation to the future, is not a human peculiarity, a perplexing incongruity in an otherwise mechanistic world. Rather, actions pervade the whole biological domain. The concept of action is needed to explicate the continued existence of every biological organism.Systems as primitive as bacteria are autonomous far-from-equilibrium systems, which maintain themselves in existence by their interactions with their environments. That requires recognizing them as performing simple actions. Three criteria are proposed which justify identifying certain behaviour as minimal actions: goal-seeking; possibly being in error; and behaving as a functional whole. Adding further criteria yields richer concepts of action, namely, self-directed and reflective action. Only the last is distinctively human.
AB - How does the concept of action fit within a scientifically serious world-view? This paper argues that the category of action, with its goal-seeking and orientation to the future, is not a human peculiarity, a perplexing incongruity in an otherwise mechanistic world. Rather, actions pervade the whole biological domain. The concept of action is needed to explicate the continued existence of every biological organism.Systems as primitive as bacteria are autonomous far-from-equilibrium systems, which maintain themselves in existence by their interactions with their environments. That requires recognizing them as performing simple actions. Three criteria are proposed which justify identifying certain behaviour as minimal actions: goal-seeking; possibly being in error; and behaving as a functional whole. Adding further criteria yields richer concepts of action, namely, self-directed and reflective action. Only the last is distinctively human.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77952293382&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.newideapsych.2009.09.004
DO - 10.1016/j.newideapsych.2009.09.004
M3 - Article
SN - 0732-118X
VL - 28
SP - 283
EP - 295
JO - New Ideas in Psychology
JF - New Ideas in Psychology
IS - 3
ER -