Intending as Practical Remembering

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter investigates intending as action that involves continued practical reasoning as the agent acts. It is demonstrated that coherent action requires that the agent remember what she is doing, a memory constituted by her ongoing intention-in-action to act. This memory must track action in real time else the agent will lose track of what she is doing. Accordingly, practical remembering in ongoing intention requires that the intention be updated, a process that involves practical reasoning to further refine the content of the intention. The dynamics of such reasoning are revealed in the dynamics of working memory. This provides the biological and psychological basis for how the agent can directly access what she is doing by reporting on her remembering to act, for how the agent can keep time with her action, and for her sensitivity to changes in the world she acts in.