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How or in virtue of what does any one particular action differ from another? Available views on the issue of action individuation tend to emphasize the descriptive features of actions, such as where and when they occur, or what they cause or are caused by. I contend instead that actions are individuated by their normative features, such as what licenses them and what they license in turn. In this essay, deploying a suggestion from Sellars and Brandom, I argue specifically that actions are individuated by their normative function or role.

Maher, Chauncey. Action Individuation: A Normative Functionalist Approach. Philosophical Explorations 14, no.1 (2011): 99-116. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13869795.2011.544396?journalCode=rpex20

Chauncey Maher is a professor of Philosophy at Dickinson College.

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