Anscombe’s ‘enquiries into the question “why?”’

Anscombe’s intention contains the seeds of a wholly other, non-decompositional approach to understanding action, an approach grounded in a diff erent sort of inquiry, prompted by a diff erent sort of demand. When our outlook is shaped by the decompositional approach, Anscombe’s question, the task it sets, and the answer it delivers can be diffi cult to recognize.