C&L Intention Revisited

Abstract

The 1990 papers of Cohen and Levesque (C&L) on rational interaction have been most influential. Their approach is based on a logical framework integrating the concepts of belief, action, time, and choice. On top of these they define notions of achievement goal, persistent goal, and intention. We here revisit their approach in a simplified, propositional logic, for which we give complete axiomatization. Within that logic we study the definition of achievement goals, refining C&L's analysis. Our analysis allows us to identify the conditions under which achievement goals persist. We then discuss the C&L definition of intention as well as a variant that has been proposed by Sadek and Bretier. We argue that both are too strong and propose a weakened version.