A Question-Sensitive Theory of Intention

A Representationalist Theory of Intention

ions are relations between propositions, in which one is more abstract or general than another, let a be making a spaghetti-marinara dinner, and b be making a spaghetti dinner. In every possible world it is the case that a D b, so an intention to do a necessarily implies an intention to do b, if they are treated as normal modal operators. Normal modal operators are never abstraction free, but a...

Intention-sensitive semantics

A number of authors have argued that the fact that certain indexicals depend for their reference-determination on the speaker’s referential intentions demonstrates the inadequacy of associating such expressions with functions from contexts to referents (characters). By distinguishing between different uses to which the notion of context is put in these argument, I show that this line of argumen...

Intention-to-treat. What is the question?

It has become commonplace for Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) to be analyzed according to Intention-to-Treat (ITT) principles in which data from all subjects are used regardless of the subjects' adherence to protocol. While ITT analyses can provide useful information in some cases, they do not answer the question that motivates many RCTs, namely, whether the treatments differ in efficacy. I...

Belief as Question-Sensitive

A Multi-Category Theory of Intention

People excel at attributing intentionality to other agents, whether in simple scenarios such as shapes moving in two dimensions or complex scenarios such as people interacting. We note that intentionality attributions seem to fall into two categories: low-level intentionality in which an observer has a theory of mind about an agent, and high-level intentionality in which an observer believes th...