Skip to main content
Log in

Abstract

Stit theory (a logic of seeing-to-it-that) is applied to cases involving many agents. First treated are complex nestings of stits involving distinct agents. The discussion is driven by the logical impossibility of “a sees to it that b sees to it thatQ” in the technical sense, even though that seems to make sense in everyday language. Of special utility are the concepts of “forced choice”, of the creation of deontic states, and of probabilities. Second, joint agency, both plain and strict (every participant is essential) is given a rigorous treatment. A central theorem is that strict joint agency is itself agentive.

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. P. Bartha, Conditional obligation, deontic paradoxes, and the logic of agency, this issue, Ann. of Math, and AI 9(1993)1–23.

    Google Scholar 

  2. N. Belnap, Declaratives are not enough, Philos. Studies 59(1990)1–30.

    Google Scholar 

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

    Google Scholar 

  4. N. Belnap, Backwards and forwards in the modal logic of agency, Philos. Phenomen. Res. 51(1991) 777–807.

    Google Scholar 

  5. N. Belnap, Agents in branching time, unpublished manuscript, Department of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh (1991). Forthcoming in:Logic and Reason. Essays in Pure and Applied Logic, in Memory of Arthur Prior, ed. J. Copeland (Oxford University Press, Oxford).

  6. N. Belnap, Branching space-time, Synthese 92(1992)385–434.

    Google Scholar 

  7. N. Belnap and M. Perloff, Seeing to it that: a canonical form for agentives, Theoria 54(1988) 175–199. Corrected version in:Knowledge Representation and Defeasible Reasoning, ed. H.E. Kyburg, Jr., R.P. Loui and G.N. Carlson, Studies in Cognitive Systems, Vol. 5 (Kluwer, Dordrecht, Boston, London) pp. 167–190.

    Google Scholar 

  8. N. Belnap and M. Perloff, The way of the agent, Studia Logica 51(1992)463–484.

    Google Scholar 

  9. A. Bressan,A General Interpreted Modal Calculus (Yale University Press, New Haven, 1972).

    Google Scholar 

  10. B.F. Chellas, Time and modality in the logic of agency, Studia Logica 51(1992)485–518.

    Google Scholar 

  11. D. Gabbay and G. Guenthner (eds.),Handbook of Philosophical Logic, Vol. II:Extensions of Classical Logic, Synthese Library, Studies in Epistemology, Vol. 165 (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1984).

    Google Scholar 

  12. A. Gupta,The Logic of Common Nouns: An Investigation in Quatified Modal Logic (Yale University Press, New Haven, 1980).

    Google Scholar 

  13. C.L. Hamblin,Imperatives (Basil Blackwell, Oxford and New York, 1987).

    Google Scholar 

  14. L. Lindahl,Position and Change: A Study in Law and Logic (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1977).

    Google Scholar 

  15. G.J. Massey, Tom, Dick, and Harry, and all the king's men, Amer. Philos. Quart. 13(1976)89–107.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Z. Parks, Classes and change, J. Philos. Logic 1(1972)162–169.

    Google Scholar 

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

    Google Scholar 

  18. J.R. Searle, What is a speech act?, in:Philosophy in America (Allen and Unwin, London, 1965) pp. 221–239. Reprinted in:The Philosophy of Language, ed. J.R. Searle, Oxford Readings in Philosophy (Oxford University Press, 1971) pp. 39–53.

    Google Scholar 

  19. J.R. Searle and D. Vanderveken,Foundations of Illocutionary Logic (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1985).

    Google Scholar 

  20. J. Talja, A technical note on Lars Lindahl'sPosition and change, J. Philos. Logic 9(1980)167–183.

    Google Scholar 

  21. R. Tuomela, Collective action, supervenience, and constitution, Synthese 80(1989)243–266.

    Google Scholar 

  22. R. Tuomela, Actions by collectives, Philos. Perspectives 3(1989)471–496.

    Google Scholar 

  23. M. Xu, Refraining formulas and busy choosers, unpublished manuscript, Department of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh (April 1991).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Belnap, N., Perloff, M. In the realm of agents. Ann Math Artif Intell 9, 25–48 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01531260

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01531260

Keywords

Navigation