Examining the Explanation of Action from Davidson's Early and Late Point of View

The main subject of this research is the analysis and criticism of the early and late Davidson's view on the explanation of action in a descriptive-analytical way. Donald Davidson, a famous American philosopher wrote the article "Action, Reason, Cause" in 1963, tried to defend the traditional theory about the explanation of the action, i.e. its causal explanation based on the reason of the agent. By categorizing the agent’s reasons in two categories, "belief" and "desire", he called it "primary reason". According to him, the "primary reason" not only makes the action of the agent rational, but it is also the cause of the action. Based on this, human actions can be formulated based on the model of Hempel's causal theory in the philosophy of science, and human actions can be explained under the necessary causal laws, and the role of the agent can be reduced to zero. Accordingly, any agent who has the belief and desire of the S will do the same action that S did. Despite the fact that in the contemporary period, Davidson is known as the revivalist of "causal explanation", the analytical-descriptive examination of Davidson's later works shows that he abandoned his initial position after encountering the problem of "deviant causal chains" and the famous example of the "climber”. After this, he has expressed his disappointment with the "causal explanation" of action under the necessary laws, which leads to the difference in the nature and method of human sciences and natural and experimental sciences.