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Contemporary Action Theory Volume 1: Individual Action pp 83–107Cite as

On States, Actions, Omissions and Norms

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Part of the book series: Synthese Library ((SYLI,volume 266))

Abstract

Philosophers, lawyers and detectives have been puzzled by the problem of locating actions in time and space. The great detective Nero Wolfe observed (Stout 1935/1982, 16): The average murder, I would guess, consumes ten or fifteen seconds at the outside. In cases of slow poison and similar ingenuities death of course is lingering, but the act of murder is commonly quite brief.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Turku, Finland

    Risto Hilpinen

  2. University of Miami, USA

    Risto Hilpinen

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  1. Risto Hilpinen
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Boston University, USA

    Ghita Holmström-Hintikka

  2. University of Helsinki, Finland

    Ghita Holmström-Hintikka

  3. Academy of Finland, Finland

    Raimo Tuomela

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© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Hilpinen, R. (1997). On States, Actions, Omissions and Norms. In: Holmström-Hintikka, G., Tuomela, R. (eds) Contemporary Action Theory Volume 1: Individual Action. Synthese Library, vol 266. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0439-7_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0439-7_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-4914-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-0439-7

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