In general, the problem is that it seems always possible that the relevant mental states and events cause the relevant event (a certain movement, for instance) in a deviant way: so that this event is clearly not an intentional action or not an action at all. It is common to distinguish between cases of basic deviance and consequential deviance (also called primary and secondary deviance). A murderous nephew intends to kill his uncle in order to inherit his fortune. He drives to his uncle’s house and on the way he kills a pedestrian by accident. As it turns out, this pedestrian is his uncle. This is a case of consequential deviance (Chisholm 1966). In a standard case of basic deviance (Davidson 1973), a climber intends to rid himself of the weight and danger of holding another man on a rope by loosening his grip. This intention unnerves him so that it causes him to loosen his hold on the rope. The difference between the cases is best explained in terms of the distinction between basic and non-basic actions. Very roughly, basic actions are the things that one can do without doing something else (such as raising one’s hand), whereas the performance of non-basic actions requires that one does something else (such as giving someone a signal by raising one’s hand).[17] In the consequential case, the nephew has an intention to perform a non-basic action (to kill his uncle). He successfully performs several basic actions, but it is a sheer coincidence that he brings about the intended end. The climber, in contrast, does not perform any action at all. The mental antecedent causes a movement that would have been a basic action, had the causal chain not been deviant.