Faces of Intention
Selected Essays on Intention and Agency

A collection of essays is concerned with deepening our understanding of the notion of intention.

Michael E. Bratman (Author)

9780521637275, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 January 1999

304 pages
21.6 x 14 x 2 cm, 0.36 kg

'This is an excellent collection of essays. It is clearly written and presents complex arguments in an accessible and persuasive manner. Bratman's work has consistently been of the highest calibre: Faces of Intention is no exception.' The Cambridge Law Journal

This collection of essays by one of the most prominent and internationally respected philosophers of action theory is concerned with deepening our understanding of the notion of intention. In Bratman's view, when we settle on a plan for action we are committing ourselves to future conduct in ways that help support important forms of coordination and organization both within the life of the agent and interpersonally. These essays enrich that account of commitment involved in intending, and explore its implications for our understanding of temptation and self-control, shared intention and shared cooperative activity, and moral responsibility. The essays offer extensive discussions of related views by, among others, Donald Davidson, Hector-Neri Castañeda, Christine Korsgaard, Harry Frankfurt, and P. F. Strawson. This collection will be a valuable resource for a wide range of philosophers and their students.

1. Introduction: planning agents in a social world
Part I. Acceptance and Stability: 2. Practical reasoning and acceptance in a context
3. Planning and temptation
4. Toxin, temptation, and the stability of intention
Part II. Shared Agency: 5. Shared cooperative activity
6. Shared intention
7. Shared intention and mutual obligation
8. I intend that we J
Part III. Responsibility and Identification: 9. Responsibility and planning
10. Identification, decision, and treating as a reason
Part IV. Critical Studies: 11. Davidson's theory of intention
12. Castañeda's theory of thought and action
13. Cognitivism about practical reason
14. Critical study of Korsgaard's The Sources of Normativity.

Subject Areas: Philosophy of mind [HPM]