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EM d iE t eN d bTA y ML iA chC aT e lI BO rN e n tA aN n dD L T i sH a ME irC acO chN i TSC i tusIO U S Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy M I N D MENTAL ACTION AND THE CONSCIOUS MIND Edited by Michael Brent and Lisa Miracchi Titus Mental Action and the Conscious Mind Mental action deserves a place among foundational topics in action theory and philosophy of mind. Recent accounts of human agency tend to overlook the role of conscious mental action in our daily lives, while contemporary accounts of the conscious mind often ignore the role of mental action and agency in shaping consciousness. This collection aims to establish the centrality of mental action for discussions of agency and mind. The thirteen original essays provide a wide-ranging vision of the various and nuanced philosophical issues at stake. Among the questions explored by the contributors are: • Which aspects of our conscious mental lives are agential? • Can mental action be reduced to and explained in terms of non- agential mental states, processes, or events? • Must mental action be included among the ontological categories required for understanding and explaining the conscious mind more generally? • Does mental action have implications for related topics, such as attention, self-knowledge, self-control, or the mind-body problem? By investigating the nature, scope, and explanation of mental action, the essays presented here aim to demonstrate the significance of conscious mental action for discussions of agency and mind. Mental Action and the Conscious Mind will be of interest to scholars and graduate students working in philosophy of mind, philosophy of action, and philosophy of agency, as well as to philosophically inclined cognitive scientists. Michael Brent is a Responsible AI Expert at Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Prior to emerging from the cloistered walls of the academy, he was an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Denver, USA. His published work has appeared in the Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Journal of Buddhist Ethics, and Philosophical Psychology. Lisa Miracchi Titus is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, USA, where she is also a General Robotics, Auto- mation, Sensing, and Perception (GRASP) Lab Faculty Affiliate and a MindCORE Faculty Affiliate. Her published work has appeared in the Journal of Philosophy, Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Conscious- ness, Philosophical Psychology, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, and Synthese. Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy Perspectives on Taste Aesthetics, Language, Metaphysics, and Experimental Philosophy Edited by Jeremy Wyatt, Julia Zakkou, and Dan Zeman A Referential Theory of Truth and Falsity Ilhan Inan Existentialism and the Desirability of Immortality Adam Buben Recognition and the Human Life-Form: Beyond Identity and Difference Heikki Ikäheimo Autonomy, Enactivism, and Mental Disorder A Philosophical Account Michelle Maiese The Philosophy of Fanaticism Epistemic, Affective, and Political Dimensions Edited by Leo Townsend, Ruth Rebecca Tietjen, Hans Bernhard Schmid, and Michael Staudigl Mental Action and the Conscious Mind Edited by Michael Brent and Lisa Miracchi Titus Epistemic Injustice and the Philosophy of Recognition Edited by Paul Giladi and Nicola McMillan For more information about this series, please visit: https://www. routledge.com/Routledge-Studies-in-Contemporary-Philosophy/book- series/SE0720 Mental Action and the Conscious Mind Edited by Michael Brent and Lisa Miracchi Titus First published 2023 by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 and by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Michael Brent and Lisa Miracchi Titus; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Michael Brent and Lisa Miracchi Titus to be identified as the author[/s] of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this title has been requested ISBN: 978-0-367-07751-8 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-032-07115-2 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-02257-9 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9780429022579 Typeset in Sabon by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd. For Louisa, whose mental actions continue to astonish and delight –M.B. For Noah and Neva, who continually teach me how rewarding jumping in midstream can be. –L.T. Contents List of contributors xi Preface xii Introduction 1 LISA MIRACCHI TITUS AND MICHAEL BRENT 1 Disappearing Agents, Mental Action, Rational Glue 14 JOSHUA SHEPHERD 2 How to Think Several Thoughts at Once: Content Plurality in Mental Action 31 ANTONIA PEACOCKE 3 Attending as Mental Action: Mental Action as Attending 61 WAYNE WU 4 The Most General Mental Act 79 YAIR LEVY 5 Mental Action and the Power of Effort 100 MICHAEL BRENT 6 Inference as a Mental Act 122 DAVID HUNTER 7 Reasoning and Mental Action 142 MARKOS VALARIS 8 Causal Modeling and the Efficacy of Action 164 HOLLY ANDERSEN