Description
Book SynopsisWhat happens to our conception of mind and rational agency when we take seriously future-directed intentions and plans and their roles as inputs into further practical reasoning? The author's initial efforts in responding to this question resulted in a series of papers that he wrote during the early 1980s. In this book, Bratman develops further some of the main themes of these essays and also explores a variety of related ideas and issues. He develops a planning theory of intention. Intentions are treated as elements of partial plans of action. These plans play basic roles in practical reasoning, roles that support the organization of our activities over time and socially. Bratman explores the impact of this approach on a wide range of issues, including the relation between intention and intentional action, and the distinction between intended and expected effects of what one intends.
Table of Contents1. Introduction; 2. On the way to the planning theory; 3. Plans and practical reasoning; 4. Agent rationality: toward a general theory; 5. Reconsideration and rationality; 6. Agent rationality: the historical theory; 7. Commitment revisited; 8. Two faces of intention; 9. Acting with an intention; 10. Intention and expected side effects; 11. Conclusion; Bibliography; Notes; Index.
