Life and Action in Ethics and in Politics

The symposium on Michael Thompson's "Life and Action, is organized according to the threefold partition of the book. As for part one, Paolo Costa focuses on the logical and metaphysical understanding of “life-form” and relates it to similar approaches in philosophical anthropology. As for part two, Constantine Sandis examines the role of simple past and progressive tenses in the naïve theory of action and contrasts it with alternative contemporary approaches in action theory. Matteo Bianchin questions Thompson’s rejection of folk psychological accounts by focusing on phenomenal intentionality and action planning. As for part three, Arto Laitinen considers Thompson’s understanding of practices as a source of goodness in the light of the Hegelian distinction between Moralität und Sittlichkeit. Italo Testa discusses Thompson’s anti-individualist account of dispositions and social practices, and assesses its relevance for social philosophy and social ontology. Ingrid Salvatore interrogates Thompson’s understanding of Rawls’s “Two concepts of Rule” and rule-like practices.