Structures of Agency Essays

by Bratman, Michael E.

• ISBN13: 9780195187700
• ISBN10: 0195187709
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-01-04
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This is a collection of published and unpublished essays by distinguishedphilosopher Michael E. Bratman of Stanford University. They revolve around hisinfluential theory, know as the "planning theory of intention and agency."Bratman's primary concern is with what he calls "strong" forms of humanagency--including forms of human agency that are the target of our talk aboutself-determination, self-government, and autonomy. These essays are unified andcohesive in theme, and will be of interest to philosophers in ethics andmetaphysics.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction	3
Part I Planning, Temporally Extended Agency, and Self-Governance
2. Reflection, Planning, and Temporally Extended Agency	21
3. Valuing and the Will	47
4. Hierarchy, Circularity, and Double Reduction	68
5. Two Problems about Human Agency	89
6. Nozick on Free Will	106
Appendix: Nozick, Free Will, and the Problem of Agential Authority	127
7. A Desire of One's Own	137
8. Autonomy and Hierarchy	162
9. Three Forms of Agential Commitment: Reply to Cullity and Gerrans	187
10. Planning Agency, Autonomous Agency	195
11. Three Theories of Self-Governance	222
Part II Extending the Theory
12. Temptation Revisited	257
13. Shared Valuing and Frameworks for Practical Reasoning	283
Index	311