Why Grice Loved Foot

---- by JLS
-------- for the GC

WE REMINISCED ON GRICE'S reminiscences on Philippa Foot (in Grice 1991) when she passed away in Oct. 2010. This is Doyle:

"And when we do something "by chance" it may not mean physically undetermined, and may not be used to deny responsibility.:

Citing Foot:

"It is not at all clear that when actions or choices are called "chance" or "accidental" this has anything to do with the absence of causes... Ayer says, "Either it is an accident that I choose to act as I do, or it is not." The notion of choosing by accident to do something is on the face of it puzzling; for usually choosing to do something is opposed to doing it by accident. What does it mean to say that the choice itself was accidental? (p.449-50)".

If that's not genial, I don't know what is.

---