Skip to main content
Log in

The way of the agent

  • Published:
Studia Logica Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The conditional,if an agent did something, then the agent could have done otherwise, is analyzed usingstit theory, which is a logic of “seeing to it that” based on agents making choices in the context of branching time. The truth of the conditional is found to be a subtle matter that depends on how it is interpreted (e.g., on what “otherwise” refers to, and on the difference between “could” and “might”) and also on whether or not there are “busy choosers” that can make infinitely many choices in a finite span of time.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. J. L. Austin,Ifs and cans, inPhilosophical Papers, 2nd ed., J. O. Urmson and G. J. Warnock (eds), Oxford University Press, Oxford 1970, pp. 205–232.

    Google Scholar 

  2. P. Bartha,Conditional obligation and the logic of agency. Unpublished manuscript, University of Pittsburgh, Department of Philosophy, 1989.

  3. N. Belnap,Backwards and forwards in the modal logic of agency,Philosophy and phenomenological research 51 (1991), pp. 777–807.

    Google Scholar 

  4. N. Belnap,Before refraining: concepts for agency,Erkenntnis 34 (1991), pp. 137–169.

    Google Scholar 

  5. N. Belnap,Declaratives are not enough,Philosophical studies 59 (1990), pp. 1–30.

    Google Scholar 

  6. N. Belnap andM. Perloff,Seeing to it that: a canonical form for agentives,Theoria 54 (1988), pp. 175–199. W. Edelberg pointed out to us that the informal semantic account ofstit is garbled in this paper; the account is correct in the version of this paper republished inKnowledge representation and defeasible reasoning, H. E. Kyburg, Jr, R. P. Loui and G. N. Carlson (eds), Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht/Boston 1990, pp. 167–190; a correct account also occurs in [4].

    Google Scholar 

  7. R. M. Chisholm,Human freedom and the self, The Lindley Lecture, Department of Philosophy, University of Kansas, 1964, pp. 3–15. Reprinted inFreedom and determinism, K. Lehrer (ed.), Random House, New York 1966, pp. 11–44; and inOn Metaphysics, R. M. Chisholm (ed.), University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis 1989, pp. 5–15.

  8. J. M. Fischer, (ed.),Moral Responsibility, Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  9. H. G. Frankfurt,Alternate possibilities and moral responsibility,Journal of Philosophy 66 (1969), pp. 828–839. Reprinted inMoral Responsibility, J. M. Fischer, (ed.), Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London 1986, pp. 143–152.

    Google Scholar 

  10. D. Gabbay andG. Guenthner, (eds.),Handbook of Philosophical Logic, vol. II:Extensions of Classical Logic, Synthese library, Studies in epistemology, vol. 165, D. Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrecht 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  11. R. Hilpinen, (ed.),New studies in deontic logic: norms, actions, and the foundations of ethics, D. Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrecht 1981.

    Google Scholar 

  12. D. Makinson,On the formal representation of rights relations,Journal of Philosophical Logic 15 (1986), pp. 403–425.

    Google Scholar 

  13. G. E. Moore,Ethics, Home university library of modern knowledge, no. 52, H. Holt and Company, New York 1912. Reprinted Oxford University Press, New York 1965.

    Google Scholar 

  14. M. Perloff,Stit and the language of agency, Synthese 86 (1991), pp. 379–408.

    Google Scholar 

  15. R. H. Thomason,Indeterminist time and truth-value gaps,Theoria 36 (1970), pp. 264–281.

    Google Scholar 

  16. R. H. Thomason,Deontic logic and the role of freedom in moral deliberation, inNew studies in deontic logic: norms, actions, and the foundations of ethics, Risto Hilpinen (ed.), D. Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrecht 1981, pp. 177–186.

    Google Scholar 

  17. R. H. Thomason,Combinations of tense and modality, inHandbook of Philosophical Logic, vol. II:Extensions of Classical Logic, D. Gabbay and G. Guenthner, (eds.), D. Reidel Publ. Co., Dordrecht 1984, pp. 135–165.

    Google Scholar 

  18. M. Thomsen,The Saddest Pleasure, Graywolf Press, Saint Paul, Minnesota 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  19. P. Van Inwagen,Ability and Responsibility,Philosophical Review 87 (1978), pp. 201–224. Reprinted inMoral Responsibility, J. M. Fischer, (ed.) Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London 1986, pp. 153–173.

    Google Scholar 

  20. M. Xu,Modalities in stittheory without the refref conjecture. Unpublished manuscript, University of Pittsburgh, Department of Philosophy, December, 1989.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Belnap, N., Perloff, M. The way of the agent. Stud Logica 51, 463–484 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01028971

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01028971

Keywords

Navigation