Facing the Future Agents and Choices in Our Indeterminist World

by Belnap, Nuel; Perloff, Michael; Xu, Ming

• ISBN13: 9780195138788
• ISBN10: 0195138783
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-08-02
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Here is an important new theory of human action, a theory that assumes actions are founded on choices made by agents who face an open future. It is a theory that makes indeterminism not only intelligible but illuminating. Tools from philosophy of language and philosophical logic help generate a full-scale account of agents "seeing to it that." The authors then proceed to clarify a variety of action-related topics such as determinism vs. indeterminism, imperatives, promises, strategies, joint agency, "could have done otherwise," deontic constructions, and assertions about a not yet settled future.

Table of Contents

I Introduction to stit
Stit: A canonical form for agentives	3	(25)
Agentives	5	(4)
Stit: Simple cases	9	(5)
Grammar of the Modal logic of agency	14	(4)
Mini-history of the modal logic of agency	18	(8)
Conclusion and summary	26	(2)
Stit: Introductory theory, semantics, and applications	28	(31)
Theory and semantics: The two stits	29	(10)
Applications of stit, with many pictures	39	(20)
Small yet important differences from earlier proposals	59	(23)
Von Wright	60	(5)
Chisholm	65	(3)
Kenny	68	(6)
Castaneda	74	(4)
Davidson	78	(3)
Conclusion	81	(1)
Stit and the imperative	82	(15)
The theory of fiats	82	(2)
Ross's paradox and stit	84	(1)
Chellas's theory	85	(2)
Agentive constructions	87	(2)
Negations of imperatives	89	(3)
The Many varieties of imperatives	92	(2)
Embedding imperatives	94	(2)
Conclusion	96	(1)
Promising: Stits, claims, and strategies	97	(36)
From stit to promising	98	(9)
From RR to promising	107	(9)
Strategic content of promises and word-givings	116	(17)
II Foundations of indeterminism
Indeterminism and the Thin Red Line	133	(44)
Preliminary considerations	134	(7)
Parameters of truth	141	(15)
The assertion problem	156	(4)
The Thin Red Line	160	(10)
Time's winged chariot hurries near	170	(7)
Agents and choices in branching time with instants	177	(43)
Theory of branching time	177	(26)
Theoretical reflections on indeterminism	203	(7)
Theory of agents and choices	210	(9)
Domain	219	(1)
Indexical semantics under indeterminism	220	(35)
Sources	221	(5)
Structure parameters: The ``World'' of the speakers	226	(1)
Interpretation and model: The ``language'' of the speakers	227	(1)
Points of evaluation, and policies	228	(6)
Generic semantic ideas	234	(5)
Semantics for stit-free locutions	239	(8)
Clauses for stit functors	247	(8)
III Applications of the achievement stit
Could have done otherwise	255	(16)
Could have been and might have been	257	(1)
Could have done and might have done	257	(2)
Might have been otherwise	259	(1)
Might not have done it	260	(1)
Could not have avoided doing	261	(1)
Could have prevented	262	(1)
Could have refrained	263	(2)
Might have refrained	265	(3)
Had available a strategy for not doing	268	(1)
Summary	269	(2)
Multiple and joint agency	271	(24)
Preliminary facts	272	(1)
Other-agent nested stits	273	(8)
Joint agency: Plain and strict	281	(9)
Other-agent nested joint stits	290	(5)
IV Applications of the deliberative stit
Conditional obligation, deontic paradoxes, and stit	295	(23)
Technical preliminaries	296	(2)
Semantics of obligation	298	(5)
Completeness	303	(1)
Conditional obligation	304	(2)
O⊃-statements versus ⊃O-statements	306	(3)
The Good Samaritan	309	(3)
Contrary-to-duty obligations	312	(2)
Problems with the proposed semantics of obligation	314	(4)
Marcus and the problem of nested deontic modalities	318	(23)
The parking problem	318	(1)
The form of obligations	319	(2)
The Anderson/dstit simplification	321	(1)
The form of prohibitions	322	(3)
Generalized prohibitions	325	(8)
Generalization on agents	333	(2)
Temporal generalization	335	(1)
The outer ought	335	(6)
V Strategies
An austere theory of strategies	341	(23)
Nature of austere strategics	342	(2)
Review of choices in branching histories	344	(1)
Elementary theory of strategies	345	(11)
Favoring	356	(3)
Application to finding a strategy for inaction	359	(5)
Deontic kinematics and austere strategics	364	(17)
Basic concepts	365	(3)
From Thomason's deontic kinematics to austere strategics	368	(2)
From austere strategics to Thomason's deontic kinematics	370	(6)
Remarks	376	(5)
VI Proofs and models
Decidability of one-agent achievement-stit theory with refref	381	(34)
Preliminaries	382	(3)
Companions	385	(5)
Soundness: Validity of refref equivalence	390	(2)
Companion sets	392	(5)
Alternatives and counters	397	(4)
Semi-ref-counters	401	(7)
Completeness and finite model property	408	(7)
On the basic one-agent achievement-stit theory	415	(20)
Preliminaries	415	(2)
Soundness	417	(2)
Companion sets and their alternatives	419	(5)
Construction of preliminary structures	424	(4)
Completeness	428	(7)
Decidability of many-agent deliberative-stit theories	435	(16)
Preliminaries	435	(4)
Soundness	439	(2)
Completeness and compactness	441	(4)
Finite model property	445	(6)
Doing and refraining from refraining	451	(8)
Preliminaries	452	(2)
Main results	454	(5)
Appendix: Lists for reference	459	(16)
1 Stit theses: Thesis 1-Thesis 6	459	(1)
2 Structures	460	(1)
3 BT + I + AC postulates: Post. 1-Post. 10	461	(2)
4 Branching-time-with-instants definitions: Def. 1-Def. 9	463	(3)
5 Agent-choice definitions: Def. 10-Def. 14	466	(2)
6 Basic semantic definitions: Def. 15-Def. 16	468	(1)
7 Derivative semantic definitions: Def. 17-Def. 20	469	(2)
8 Grammar	471	(1)
9 Axiomatics concepts: Ax. Conc. 1, Ax. Conc. 2, and Ax. Conc. 3	472	(3)
Bibliography	475	(8)
Index	483