PY5207 Action and Intention

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Module description

In this module we look at some contemporary issues concerning the nature of intention and action both in the individual case and the collective case. We will begin by looking at a range of views about how the explanation of action should be understood. How should we understand mental states such as belief, desire, and intention, and how do they relate to intentional action? What is it to be an agent, and what is it to act for a reason? In addition, we’ll look at whether collections of agents such as governments, corporations, or nations can genuinely have intentions and act on those intentions. We ordinarily talk as if they do and this is part of our broader practice of holding such collections morally responsible for their actions. This raises the question of whether such collections are genuinely morally responsible agents with intentions on which they act or whether it is really only certain individuals within them who are morally responsible agents.