Intentions and interactive transformations of decision problems

Olivier Roy

pp. 335-349

in: Thomas Ågotnes, Johan van Benthem, Eric Pacuit (eds), Knowledge, rationality & action, Synthese 169 (2), 2009.

Abstract

In this paper I study two ways of transforming decision problems on the basis of previously adopted intentions, ruling out incompatible options and imposing a standard of relevance, with a particular focus on situations of strategic interaction. I show that in such situations problems arise which do not appear in the single-agent case, namely that transformation of decision problems can leave the agents with no option compatible with what they intend. I characterize conditions on the agents’ intentions which avoid such problematic scenarios, in a way that requires each agent to take account of the intentions of others.