Definition
Action theory or theory of action is an area in philosophy concerned with theories about the processes causing willful human bodily movements of a more or less complex kind. This area of thought involves epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, jurisprudence, and philosophy of mind, and has attracted the strong interest of philosophers ever since Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. With the advent of psychology and later neuroscience, many theories of action are now subject to empirical testing.
Related concepts
A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human KnowledgeAbhidharmaAbsolute idealismAbstract and concreteAbstract object theoryAcademic SkepticismAchintya Bheda AbhedaAction (philosophy)Action researchAction theory (sociology)Activity theoryAdvaita VedantaAesthetic emotionsAestheticsAfrican philosophyAfricana philosophyAgency (philosophy)Agency (psychology)Agency (sociology)AgriculturalismAjñanaAl-GhazaliAl-KindiAl-NijatAlexius MeinongAlfred North WhiteheadAlvin PlantingaAmerican philosophyAnalytic philosophyAnalytical MarxismAnalytical feminismAnarchismAncient Egyptian philosophyAncient Greek philosophyAncient Roman philosophyAncient philosophyAnekantavadaAnima mundiAnti-realismAntihumanismApplied ethicsApplied philosophyAristotelianismAristotleArthur SchopenhauerAtomismAugustinianismAustralian philosophyAverroesAverroismAvicennaAvicennismAxiologyAztec philosophyBaruch SpinozaBehaviorismBeing and NothingnessBeing and TimeBelief–desire–intention modelBernard BolzanoBertrand RussellBhedabhedaBoethiusBritish idealismBritish philosophyBuddhist philosophyByzantine philosophyCartesianismCategory of beingCausal closureCausalityChan BuddhismCharles Sanders PeirceCharvakaChinese philosophyChristian Wolff (philosopher)Christian philosophyChurch FathersClassical RealismClassical liberalismCogito, ergo sumCoherentismCollectivism and individualismCommunitarianismCompatibilismConceptConceptualismConcluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical FragmentsConfucianismConsequentialismConservatismContemporary philosophyContinental philosophyCosmologyCosmosCritical rationalismCritical theoryCritique of Pure ReasonCyberneticsCynicism (philosophy)CyrenaicsCzech philosophyDaneshnameh-ye AlaiDanish philosophyDataDavid HumeDavid Lewis (philosopher)David Malet ArmstrongDe rerum naturaDecision-makingDeconstructionDeontologyDerek ParfitDeterminismDispositioDonald Davidson (philosopher)Duns ScotusDutch philosophyDvaita VedantaEarly modern philosophyEastern philosophyEconomicsEdo neo-ConfucianismEdward N. ZaltaEfficient causeEleaticsEliminative materialismEmbodied cognitionEmergentismEmpirical testEmpiricismEnactivismEnneadsEntityEpicureanismEpiphenomenalismEpistemological particularismEpistemologyEretrian schoolEssenceEssentialismEthicsEthics (Spinoza book)Ethiopian philosophyEvent (philosophy)ExistenceExistentialismExperienceExperimental philosophyFalsifiabilityFeminist metaphysicsFeminist philosophyFideismFormalism (art)FoundationalismFrancisco SuárezFrankfurt SchoolFree willFrench philosophyFriedrich NietzscheFunctionalism (philosophy of mind)G. E. M. AnscombeG. E. MooreGeorg Wilhelm Friedrich HegelGeorge BerkeleyGerman idealismGerman philosophyGilbert RyleGilles DeleuzeGoalGoal orientationGoal pursuitGoal settingGottfried Wilhelm LeibnizHard determinismHard incompatibilismHegelianismHellenistic philosophyHenri BergsonHermann LotzeHermeneuticsHilary PutnamHindu philosophyHistoricismHistory of philosophyHistory of philosophy in FinlandHistory of philosophy in PolandHolismHuayanHumanismHumeanismHypostatic abstractionIdeaIdealismIdentity (philosophy)IlluminationismImmanuel KantImportanceIncompatibilismIndian philosophyIndigenous American philosophyIndividual differenceIndividualismIndonesian philosophyInformationInsightInstitutional theory of artIntelligenceIntentionIntentionalityInternalism and externalismInternet Encyclopedia of PhilosophyInterpretations of quantum mechanicsIonian School (philosophy)Iranian philosophyIsaac NewtonIslamic philosophyItalian idealismItalian philosophyJain philosophyJapanese philosophyJean-Paul SartreJean BaudrillardJewish philosophyJohn LockeJohn RawlsJudeo-Islamic philosophies (800–1400)JurisprudenceKalamKantianismKokugakuKorean ConfucianismKorean philosophyKrausismKyoto SchoolLaoziLegal positivismLegalism (Chinese philosophy)Libertarianism (metaphysics)LibertyLinguistic modalityList of Slovene philosophersList of Turkish philosophersList of academic disciplinesList of metaphysiciansLocus of controlLogicLogical positivismLucretiusLudwig WittgensteinMadhyamakaMartin HeideggerMarxist philosophyMaterialismMazdakismMeaning (existential)Meaning of lifeMedieval philosophyMeditations on First PhilosophyMegarian schoolMental representationMereologyMeta-ethicsMeta (prefix)MetaphilosophyMetaphysical naturalismMetaphysical necessityMetaphysicsMetaphysics (Aristotle)Michael BratmanMichael DummettMichael J. ThompsonMiddle Eastern philosophyMiddle PlatonismMindMind–body dualismMithraismModern philosophyModernismMohismMonadologyMonismMoral absolutismMoral nihilismMoral particularismMoral realismMoral skepticismMoral universalismMotionMotor systemMoziMīmāṃsāNatural lawNaturalism (philosophy)Naturalized epistemologyNature (philosophy)Navya-NyāyaNeo-ConfucianismNeo-KantianismNeo-MarxismNeo-scholasticismNeoplatonismNeopythagoreanismNeuroscienceNew ConfucianismNew historicismNewtonianismNicolas MalebrancheNicomachean EthicsNihilismNimbarka SampradayaNominalismNorm (philosophy)Normative ethicsNyayaNyāya SūtrasObjective idealismObjectivismObjectivity (philosophy)OccamismOntologyOrdinary language philosophyOutline of philosophyP. F. StrawsonPakistani philosophyParmenidesPatternPerceptionPeripatetic schoolPhenomenalismPhenomenology (philosophy)Philosophical methodologyPhilosophical pessimismPhilosophical realismPhilosophical skepticismPhilosophyPhilosophy in CanadaPhilosophy in MaltaPhilosophy in TaiwanPhilosophy of Friedrich NietzschePhilosophy of Søren KierkegaardPhilosophy of educationPhilosophy of informationPhilosophy of languagePhilosophy of mathematicsPhilosophy of matterPhilosophy of mindPhilosophy of psychologyPhilosophy of religionPhilosophy of sciencePhilosophy of selfPhilosophy of space and timePhysical objectPhysicalismPlanningPlatoPlatonic AcademyPlotinusPolitical philosophyPositivismPost-structuralismPostanalytic philosophyPostcritiquePosthumanismPostmodern philosophyPractical philosophyPragmatismPraxeologyPre-Socratic philosophyPrincipleProcess philosophyProclusProlegomena to Any Future MetaphysicsProperty (philosophy)PsychologyPudgalavadaPyrrhonismPythagoreanismQualiaQuality (philosophy)Quietism (philosophy)R. G. CollingwoodRational choiceRationalismRationalityRealityReductionismReformed epistemologyRelations (philosophy)RelativismRenaissance humanismRenaissance philosophyRené DescartesRomanian philosophyRudolf CarnapRussian cosmismRussian philosophySamkhyaSarvastivadaSaul KripkeSautrāntikaScholasticismSchool of NamesSchool of NaturalistsSchool of the SextiiScientific realismScientific skepticismScientismScotismScottish philosophySecond SophisticSelfSelf-agencySelf-conceptSelf-controlSelf-determination theorySelf-efficacySense of agencyShuddhadvaitaSimulacra and SimulationSocial actionSocial constructionismSocial contractSocial identity theorySocial philosophySocial scienceSocialismSociologicalSolipsismSophistSophist (dialogue)SoulSpanish philosophySpinozismSpiritualism (philosophy)Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyStoicismStructuralismStructure and agencySubject and object (philosophy)Subjective idealismSubjectivismSubstance theorySubstantial formSufi philosophySvatantrika–Prasaṅgika distinctionSystemicsSyādvādaSøren KierkegaardTalcott ParsonsTaoismTeleologyTelosThe Phenomenology of SpiritThe World as Will and RepresentationTheoretical philosophyTheoryTheory of formsThomas AquinasThomas ReidThomismThoughtTiantaiTibetan BuddhismTimaeus (dialogue)TimeTransactionalismTranscendental idealismTranscendentalismTruthTruthmaker theoryType theoryType–token distinctionUbuntu philosophyUniversal (metaphysics)UnobservableUtilitarianismVaisheshikaValue (ethics)Value theoryVedantaVienna CircleVietnamese philosophyVirtue ethicsVishishtadvaitaVolition (psychology)Western MarxismWestern philosophyWill (philosophy)Willard Van Orman QuineXuanxueYangismYoga Sutras of PatanjaliYogacharaYugoslav philosophyZenZoroastrianismZurvanismĀjīvikaŚūnyatā
52 concepts already in your glossary