ABSTRACT
A motive moves; a man's motives are the things that motivate him, cause him to do, provide the inner pushes that issue in action. The sequence 'motive-action' is thus pictured as a peculiar mechanical relation that bridges the gap between the mental and the bodily. Nevertheless, it is no matter of etymology that nourishes and sustains the hold upon our imagination of this picture of the proceedings. Raising one's arm and thereby signalling is a highly conventionalized method of communication. This means, first, that there are fixed rules of the road that determine the precise form in which the relevant bodily movement is to be executed. Second, it involves the convention that whenever this bodily movement occurs in the appropriate circumstances, then, whatever the agent's intentions may be, the movement of one's arm will be understood as an instance of signalling.
