Intention, Intentional Action, and Self-Knowledge

Intention and intentional action have long been considered relevant to the problem of self- knowledge, i.e., how we arrive at knowledge of our own mental states. However, discussions have largely focused on whether given accounts of self-knowledge, e.g., transparency, can account for our knowledge of our own intentions and intentional actions. There has been no systematic attempt to explain our self-knowledge in general by appealing to our specific knowledge of our intentions and intentional actions.

In this conference, we are interested in reflecting on intention and intentional action and see whether they can help us better to understand not only the character of self- knowledge about intention and action, but also the character of self-knowledge about mental states in general. This will also involve discussing related topics such as the relation between perceptual knowledge and knowledge of action, the role of knowing how in our knowledge of our intentional actions, and the importance of practical reasoning in self-knowledge.

The programme:

Monday 16th September(Room MIS04 4112 Saal Jäggi, Miséricorde)

09:00 – 10:30: James Doyle (Harvard): TBA
11:00 – 12:30 Lucy Campbell (Warwick): On Anscombe on Practical Knowledge and Practical Truth
14:00 – 15:30 Gianfranco Soldati (Fribourg): Authority, Self-Control and the Will
16:00 – 17:30 Davood Bahjat Fumani (Fribourg): Transparency, Intentional Action, and Knowledge-How

Tuesday 17th September (Room MIS04 4112, Saal Jäggi, Miséricorde)

09:00 – 10:30 Amir Saemi (IPM): Self-Knowledge and the Cognition of Normative Reasons
11:00 – 12:30 Johannes Roessler (Warwick): Practical Knowledge and Testimony
14:00 – 15:30 Alex Byrne (MIT): Knowing One's Intentions and Actions

Wednesday 18th September (Room MIS03 3120, Miséricorde)

09:30 – 11:00 John Schwenkler (Florida State): Why We Know What We Do
11:30 – 13:00 Valérie Aucouturier (Saint-Louis): Is Practical Knowledge a Kind of Self-Knowledge?