This volume is based on the lectures given in the Royal Institute of

Philosophy’s annual London lecture series 2015–16. The subject

was the philosophy of action and in it we were fortunate to be able

to bring together an internationally distinguished team of lecturers.

As befits the theme itself, a wide range of topics relating to action

are covered. These include the nature of action itself and its relation

to knowledge-how. There are a number of papers on issues relating

to freedom and responsibility, and also to the relation between

action and causation. Other papers consider the notion of planning

in relation to agency, and the connection between agency and practical abilities. And there are also considerations of virtue and ethical

concepts as applied to the notion of action.

The papers collected here will testify to the liveliness of discussions

of action in contemporary philosophy, and will also demonstrate the

way many ancient conceptions of action are being developed in contemporary philosophical thought.

On behalf of the Royal Institute of Philosophy I would like to

thank all the contributors most warmly both for their lectures and

for their written papers. I would also like to thank Adam Ferner

for his work on compiling the index and also on the series more

generally.