The planning theory of individual and shared intentional agency

Abstract

This chapter presents planning theories of individual temporally extended agency and of shared intentional agency. It highlights norms of plan rationality and the framework-providing roles of prior, partial plans. Following a strategy of sufficiency, it describes—in the spirit of work of H. P. Grice—a plan-theoretic construction of shared intention. This construction involves each publicly and interdependently intending the joint activity by way of the intentions of each, meshing subplans, and mutual responsiveness. This chapter highlights the interplay of this construction with norms of plan rationality. It discusses complexities in extending this model to larger scale cases. It introduces the idea of authority according shared intention. And it defends a weaker connection between shared intention and mutual obligation than that proposed by Margaret Gilbert.