Andy fires a shot at the goal, but it’s deflected by his opponent Bill. If Bill had not reached the ball, it would have struck Charlie, Andy’s teammate. Roberto Casati asks, “Should Bill get credit for the save?”

He: Not quite. After all, the ball was not going to score anyway; it would have hit Charlie’s body.

She: But neither would it be right to say that anything happened thanks to Charlie. After all, Charlie did nothing.

He: But then who is responsible for spoiling Andy’s shot?

“Cases like this one are indicative of a deep conceptual tension,” Casati writes. “I am walking in the rain. My umbrella is open and I am wearing a hat, so my head is not getting wet. But why is that so? It’s not because of the umbrella, because I’m wearing my hat. And it’s not because of my hat, for I have an umbrella.”

From Casati’s excellent book Insurmountable Simplicities. See also In the Dark.