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Commitment As Motivation: Amartya Sen’S Theory Of Agency And The Explanation Of Behaviour

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  • Cudd, Ann E.

Abstract

This paper presents Sen's theory of agency, focusing on the role of commitment in this theory as both problematic and potentially illuminating. His account of some commitments as goal-displacing gives rise to a dilemma given the standard philosophical theory of agency. Either commitment-motivated actions are externally motivated, in which case they are not expressions of agency, or such actions are internally motivated, in which case the commitment is not goal-displacing. I resolve this dilemma and accommodate his view of commitment as motivation by developing a broader descriptive theory of agency, which recognizes both agent goal-directed and goal-displacing commitments. I propose a type of goal-displacing commitment, which I call ‘tacit commitment’, that can be seen to fit between the horns. Tacit commitments regulate behaviour without being made conscious and explicit. This resolution suggests a means of bridging the normative/descriptive gap in social-scientific explanation.

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  • Cudd, Ann E., 2014. "Commitment As Motivation: Amartya Sen’S Theory Of Agency And The Explanation Of Behaviour," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 30(1), pages 35-56, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:cup:ecnphi:v:30:y:2014:i:01:p:35-56_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Mohajan, Haradhan, 2016. "Amartya Sen’s Peasant Economies: A Review with Examples," MPRA Paper 82937, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 25 Jan 2016.
    2. Mark Peacock, 2019. "On Amartya Sen’s concept of sympathy," The Journal of Philosophical Economics, Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, The Journal of Philosophical Economics, vol. 12(2), pages 54-74, May.

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