Michael E. Bratman (born July 25, 1945) is an American

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

who is Durfee Professor in the School of Humanities & Sciences and Professor of Philosophy at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Education and career

Bratman graduated from

Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Fr ...

in 1967 and earned his Ph.D. in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

Rockefeller University The Rockefeller University is a Private university, private Medical research, biomedical Research university, research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and pro ...

in 1974, where he worked with Donald Davidson. He joined the faculty at

in 1974, where he has taught ever since. He was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 2012. In 2014,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

published a collection of essays on Bratman's work by colleagues and former students, ''Rational and Social Agency: The Philosophy of Michael Bratman.'' A review in ''Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews'' remarked that, "Our very understanding of what it is to form a plan or shared intention is owed in no small part to Michael Bratman's massively influential body of work."

Philosophical work

Bratman works in

philosophy of action Action theory or theory of action is an area in philosophy concerned with theories about the processes causing willful human bodily movements of a more or less complex kind. This area of thought involves epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, jur ...

and

moral philosophy Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied et ...

and is best known for his development of the idea that "intention is a distinctive practical attitude marked by its pivotal role in planning for the future." His work in those areas led him to the Belief-Desire-Intention model that is used in many areas, including artificial intelligence, today. Bratman's theory of intentions as plans has also led to a distinctive and widely discussed account of "

collective intentionality In the philosophy of mind, collective intentionality characterizes the intentionality that occurs when two or more individuals undertake a task together. Examples include two individuals carrying a heavy table up a flight of stairs or dancing a ta ...

Selected bibliography

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References

External links

Michael E. Bratman: An Oral History
Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program, 2018 20th-century American philosophers 21st-century American philosophers Action theorists Analytic philosophers 1945 births Living people Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Stanford University Department of Philosophy faculty Haverford College alumni Rockefeller University alumni {{US-philosopher-stub