The logic of action in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde

This thesis assesses the logical structure of action in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde. Drawing on Donald Davidson's theory of action, it attempts to demonstrate that human action in Troilus results from a series of mental events and that these mental events and the corresponding actions possess an internal coherence and rationality. By applying the notion to the actions of the main characters of the poem, it aims at an action explanation of these characters. There is a certain path followed in doing this: as distinct from an event, the occurrence of an action requires the actualisation of the potentialities inherent in a human being. If this is so, the occurrence of an action is dependent on a formation of a primary reason which causes the agent to form an intention which may or may not result in an intentional action. From here arises the possibility to speak of an "agent" and the concept of agency, leading to the point that the freedom to act is dependent on the rationale of an action. From this perspective, it is suggested that both the major and minor characters of the poem represent a rationally unified form of action since they are not only capable of forming primary reasons that would cause them to engage in an action but also present the reader with questions over agency and the freedom to act. The conclusion reached is that a logical analysis of action in Troilus and Criseyde may have much to say about the logical strategies that Chaucer employs in Troilus and also, at a broader scale, it may point out at a transivity between the concerns of philosophical logic and literature.