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What does the word pro-attitude mean in the following sentence:

Intentions are pro-attitudes, directed towards some future state of affairs.


I couldn't find this word in the dictionaries.

Could you suggest a synonym for this word or explain it in some other words?

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Could you tell us the source for where you got the sentence? –  Matt Эллен Oct 24 '12 at 14:11
@MattЭллен - It's now added to the question –  Ezati Oct 24 '12 at 14:19

1 Answer 1

up vote 2 down vote accepted

"A pro-attitude is an agent 's mental attitude directed toward an action under a certain description. Such attitudes include wants, desires , urges, moral views, aesthetic principles, and economic prejudices. Such a set of mental attitudes, together with the agent's belief that acting in a certain way promotes what the agent wants or values, form the primary reason for an agent to act in that way."

In simple terms, a pro-attitude is an urge or desire that drives an action.

Read a discussion of it here.

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Thanks a lot :) It seems that you work in this area. Can I ask an out of scope question about "intention recognition in computing environments"? –  Ezati Oct 24 '12 at 14:37
@Ezati you should visit Cognitive Sciences, they'll love questions like that. –  Matt Эллен Oct 24 '12 at 14:41
@MattЭллен - Unfortunately they don't love it:cogsci.stackexchange.com/questions/1775/… –  Ezati Oct 24 '12 at 15:12
Oh. Sorry about that. It sounded perfect! –  Matt Эллен Oct 24 '12 at 15:17
I think this expression is best understood by inserting a space between "pro-" and "attitude." Using that spelling would save a lot of confusion, alas... –  SF. Oct 24 '12 at 21:28

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