Groups as agents

by Tollefsen, Deborah

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Title Statements

Full title :Groups as agents / Deborah Tollefsen.

Summary

In the social sciences and in everyday speech we often talk about groups as if they behaved in the same way as individuals, thinking and acting as a singular being. We say for example that "Google intends to develop an automated car", "the U.S. Government believes that Syria has used chemical weapons on its people", or that "the NRA wants to protect the rights of gun owners". We also often ascribe legal and moral responsibility to groups. But could groups literally intend things' Is there such a thing as a collective mind' If so, should groups be held morally responsible' Such questions are of vital importance to our understanding of the social world. In this lively, engaging introduction Deborah Tollefsen offers a careful survey of contemporary philosophers' answers to these questions, and argues for the unorthodox view that certain groups should, indeed, be treated as agents and deserve to be held morally accountable. Tollefsen explores the nature of belief, action and intention, and shows the reader how a belief in group agency can be reconciled with our understanding of individual agency and accountability. Groups as Agents will be a vital resource for scholars as well as for students of philosophy and the social sciences encountering the topic for the first time.

Edition Statements

Publication Date:2015.

Publication Statements

Publisher(s):Polity Press
Place of Publication:Place of publication not identified
Language:eng
Publication Date:2015.

Notes

Title from resource description page (Recorded Books, viewed August 17, 2015).

The Physical Object

Description:1 online resource

Edition Identifiers

ISBN:9780745684871, 0745684874
oclc:ocn918985267
LC Classification:B105.A35 T65 2015
Dewey Decimal:128/.4

Cover; Key Concepts in Philosophy Series; Title page; Copyright page; Preface and Acknowledgments; Dedication; Introduction; 1: Group Belief; 1 Defining Belief; 2 Some Recent Accounts of Group Belief; 3 Taking Stock; 4 Suggestions for Further Reading; 5 Discussion Questions; Notes; 2: Group Intention; 1 Defining Intention; 2 Goal Accounts; 3 Mode Accounts; 4 Shared Accounts; 5 Commitment Accounts; 6 Taking Stock; 7 Suggestions for Further Reading; 8 Discussion Questions; Notes; 3: Group Agency; 1 Some Preliminaries; 2 French on Group Agency.

3 List and Pettit on Group Agency4 Taking Stock; 5 Suggestions for Further Reading; 6 Questions for Discussion; Notes; 4: Group Cognition; 1 Functionalism; 2 Extending the Mind; 3 From Extended Mind to Group Mind; 4 Coarse-Grained Functionalism, Supervenience, and Explanatory Superfluity; 5 Group Cognition and Architecture; 6 Taking Stock; 7 Suggestions for Further Reading; 8 Questions for Discussion; Notes; 5: Interpreting Groups; 1 Interpretivism; 2 Groups as Intentional Systems; 3 Taking Stock; 4 Suggestions for Further Reading.

5 Questions for DiscussionNotes; 6: The Moral Responsibility of Groups; 1 Some Reasons for Attributing Moral Re…