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The Agentive Modalities
Author(s) -
Maier John
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
philosophy and phenomenological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1933-1592
pISSN - 0031-8205
DOI - 10.1111/phpr.12038
Subject(s) - modalities , modality (human–computer interaction) , agency (philosophy) , epistemology , modal , semantics (computer science) , modal logic , philosophy , computer science , sociology , artificial intelligence , programming language , social science , chemistry , polymer chemistry
A number of philosophical projects require a proper understanding of the modal aspects of agency, or of what I call ‘the agentive modalities.’ I propose a general account of the agentive modalities, one which takes as its primitive the decision‐theoretic notion of an option. I relate this account to the standard semantics for ‘can’ and to the viability of some positions in the free will debates.