  Davidson notes that “there is no proving such actions exist;  but it seems to me absolutely certain that they do”  (p. 29). Why, then, is there a persistent tendency, both in  philosophy and in ordinary thought, to deny that such actions are  possible? Davidson’s diagnosis is that two plausible principles which “derive their force from a very persuasive view of the nature  of intentional action and practical reasoning” (p. 31)  appear to entail that incontinence is impossible. He articulates  those two principles as follows (p. 23):