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"Defeaters" don't matter.

Zina B Ward¹, Edouard Machery²

¹Department of History and Philosophy of Science,University of Pittsburgh,Pittsburgh, PA 15260zina.b.ward@pitt.eduhttp://zinabward.com.

The Behavioral and Brain Sciences

|May 9, 2019

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Agency can be expressed through actions reflecting personal values, even when faced with "defeaters." This challenges reflectivist theories by showing value-consistent behavior without conscious deliberation.

Area of Science:

Philosophy of Mind
Action Theory
Moral Psychology

Background:

Reflectivist theories of agency posit that actions must involve conscious reflection to express personal values.
The existence of 'defeaters' (factors that undermine rational control) is debated in relation to agency.
Previous work by Doris introduces the concept of defeaters in the context of agency.

Purpose of the Study:

To argue that the exercise of agency is compatible with the presence of defeaters.
To challenge reflectivist theories of agency.
To support a valuational alternative to reflectivist accounts of agency.

Main Methods:

Conceptual analysis of agency and its relationship with values.
Examination of Doris's concept of defeaters.

Related Experiment Videos

Argumentation against reflectivist theories of agency.

Main Results:

Demonstration that agentive behaviors can express a person's values without involving reflection.
Establishment of the compatibility between agency and the presence of defeaters.
Undermining of reflectivist theories by providing an alternative framework.

Conclusions:

Agency and the expression of values can occur even in the presence of factors that might seem to undermine them (defeaters).
Doris's valuational account offers a viable alternative to reflectivist theories of agency.
Conscious reflection is not a necessary condition for all value-expressive actions.