I Intend Therefore I Believe. : Intention and Belief in the Theory of Action

Abstract

In this paper we try to answer the following: Is it the case that the linguistic expression of our future intentions (I intend ?) necessarily implies a certain belief about the occurrence of the intended fact (I believe that ? will be the case)? Action theorists disagree on this problem of the link between belief and intention; we will therefore present a plausible analysis of this link in terms of the minimal belief required in order to have a given intention. This approach attempts to overcome certain problems that Davidson, Velleman, Koorsgard and other action theorists have faced.