The things we don’t do

Abstract

In interacting with the world, we not only cause by doing certain things, but also by not doing some of them. Thus the student’s not doing his homework caused his teacher to yell at him; Beth’s not kissing Al that evening caused Al’s surprise; the gardener’s not watering the plants caused the plants’s death; Al’s failure to turn off the gas caused the explosion; and so on. Non-doings can also be caused, and not only by things agents do, but also by things agents omit from doing.