Action Quotes

8300 quotes by 4251 authors

We are so far from knowing all the forces of nature and their various modes of action that it would be unworthy of the philosopher… — Pierre-Simon Laplace
...if there is a widely shared concept of intentional action... a philosophical analysis of intentional action that is wholly unconstrained by that concept runs the… — Alfred Mele
Some philosophers are drawn to the subject [of philosophy] via their interest in the nature and structure of the world external to us. Others are… — Jason Stanley
[R]eason is... given to us as a practical faculty, that is, as one that influences the will.... — Immanuel Kant
I conceive ethics as a branch of psychology. — Thomas Nagel
equally real at all stages of his life; specifically, the fact that a particular stage is present cannot be regarded as conferring on it any… — Thomas Nagel
To look for a single general theory of how to decide the right thing to do is like looking for a single theory of how… — Thomas Nagel
A theory of motivation is defective if it renders intelligible behaviour which is not intelligible. — Thomas Nagel
I do not see why the axiom of Prudence should not be questioned, when it conflicts with present inclination, on a ground similar to that… — Henry Sidgwick
A person may be greedy, envious, cowardly, cold, ungenerous, unkind, vain, or conceited, but behave perfectly by a monumental act of the will. — Thomas Nagel
The inclusion of consequences in the conception of what we have done is an acknowledgement that we are parts of the world, but the paradoxical… — Thomas Nagel
Once we see an aspect of what we or someone else does as something that happens, we lose our grip on the idea that it… — Thomas Nagel
The external view [of agency] forces itself on us at the same time that we resist it. One way this occurs is through the gradual… — Thomas Nagel
What is left over if I subtract the fact that my arms goes up from the fact that I raise my arm? — Ludwig Wittgenstein
...once the cards are dealt we turn them up in turn, and make two piles each, one red, one black; the winner has the biggest… — G. E. M. Anscombe
Those emotive theorists who said that the function of moral utterance was to evince emotion would... have been correct if they had substituted the indefinite… — Alasdair MacIntyre
[S]uppose the mind of [a] friend of humanity were clouded over with his own grief, extinguishing all sympathetic participation in the fate of others; he… — Immanuel Kant
Normativity, I believe, is very different from motivating force. Neither includes, or implies, the other. Other animals can be motivated by their desires and beliefs.… — Derek Parfit
While reasons are provided by the facts,...rationality...depends instead on our beliefs. [...] [I]f I believe falsely that my hotel is on fire, it may be… — Derek Parfit
I've decided to do it, for the pure and simple reason that I just think it's the right thing to do. — Charlie Crist

Who Wrote These Action Quotes

4,251 authors contributed a total of 8,300 Action Quotes, led by these top contributors: