Ann Bumpus '83, assistant professor of philosophy at Dartmouth College, will speak on “Actors Without Intentions” in the Philosophy Department's Winter Colloquia on Friday, Jan. 25, at 4:15 p.m. in Humanities 213.
Intentions are often cited as an important determinant of moral responsibility and legal responsibility. They are often thought to be key in distinguishing mere happenings from human action. But what are intentions? How are they related to beliefs and desires? Does every case of human action involve an intention?
Bumpus argues for an answer to these questions that treats future directed intending as importantly different from intention as it occurs in simple, ordinary actions.
Her research and teaching interests include action theory, philosophy of mind, and contemporary ethics.
The last talk in the philosophy series is on Friday, March 1, at 4:15 p.m. in Humanities 213 by Rachel Brown of McGill University on “Where's the Self-Knowledge in Self-Deception?”