page_title: Collective intentionality
section_title: Margaret Gilbert
hierarchical_section_title: Collective intentionality / Margaret Gilbert
caption_attribution_description: A Mother Daughter team (presumably) walk barefoot together having an intimate discussion on the hard wet sand of a low tide on Morro Strand State Beach during the golden light of sunset on an exceptionally warm and calm November day on the Central California Coast 16 Nov. 2008. Michael "Mike" L. Baird, Canon 1D Mark III EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM handheld.
context_page_description: 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 tango.
  This phenomenon is approached from psychological and normative perspectives, among others. Prominent philosophers working in the psychological manner are Raimo Tuomela, Kaarlo Miller, John R. Searle, and Michael E. Bratman. Margaret Gilbert takes a normative approach dealing specifically with group formation. David Velleman is also concerned with how groups are formed, but his account lacks the normative element present in Gilbert.
  The notion that collectives are capable of forming intentions can be found, whether implicitly or explicitly, in literature going back thousands of years. For example, ancient texts such as Plato's Republic discuss the cooperative determination of laws and social order by the group composed of society as a whole. This theme was later expanded into social contract theory by Enlightenment-era philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes and John Locke.
context_section_description: Whereas Bratman argues for a descriptive account of collective intentionality, other authors have taken a normative approach. Margaret Gilbert in "Walking Together: A Paradigmatic Social Phenomena", sets the conditions for people entering, enduring, and exiting acts of collective intentionality. Gilbert asserts that social groups in general can be defined by something as simple as two people walking together. In her analysis the basic conditions for collective intentions that must be satisfied are as follows:
  (1) People must know they are entering into an agreement by communicating it clearly (even if they are coerced). Gilbert states that this act of agreement is sufficient to set a goal for a group. Furthermore, the agreement groups the agents who comprise the group into a plural subject.
  (2) The agreement implies that each member is obligated to completing the final goal.
  (3) Because of this implied obligation, any and all members may rebuke any one else who fails to do their part towards the completion of the goal. The "right to rebuke" is stated as a necessary feature of the group arrangement. This functions as a tool for each member of the group to ensure the goal is accomplished.
  (4) In order to break the agreement there has to be joint consent among all members of the group.
caption: A paradigmatic social phenomenon: two people walking together
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