title: What is the accordion effect?: harmonizing Bratman's principles F and D.
abstract: In an article about the accordion effect Michael Bratman pointed out some difficulties in Joel Feinberg's original description of it, which he calls "language relativity". In this comment I do not contend any of Bratman's conclusions, but try to resolve the tension noted by Bratman. I believe that his analysis of Feinberg and Davidson is detrimental to the study of the accordion effect since the difficulties he mentions can be explained by the context in which Feinberg gives his account of the accordion effect. Because of the focus of his essay, Feinberg is using the accordion effect not, as most scholars after him have done, to redescribe actions to include their consequences, but to disassemble action sentences to find forms of causality "hidden" in them. Such a reading of Feinberg explains the odd features of his description, aligns it with later work on the topic and enables a uniform understanding of the phenomenon.
authors: IKU Institut, Senefelderstr. 15, 73760 Ostfildern, Germany.
authors: Sven
authors: S
authors: Fockner
keywords: Accordion effect; Donald Davidson; Joel Feinberg; Michael Bratman; Responsibility