Action and result

Karma means ‘action’. Actions are typically distinguished from the class of all bodily movements by being what someone does. Eating is an action; digesting is not. It is also typical to characterize the difference as that between what we deliberately do, or choose to do, and those bodily movements over which we have no control. This does not imply all actions are well thought through, or carefully deliberated; the threshold for ‘intentional’ here is quite low. I might act in a rush, in haste or without attending to what I am doing. Nevertheless, the behaviour can still be sufficiently intentional to call it an ‘action’. And, finally, it is commonly thought that it is for that reason – because of the element of intentionality involved – that actions can be evaluated along a new dimension while other bodily changes cannot. My digestion can be good or bad according to whether it performs its job efficiently.