Shared Goals and Development
Blomberg, Olle LU
(2015)
In Philosophical Quarterly
65(258).
p.94-101
- Abstract
- In 'Joint Action and Development', Stephen Butterfill argues that if several agents' actions are driven by what he calls a "shared goal" -- a certain pattern of goal-relations and expectations -- then these actions constitute a joint action. This kind of joint action is sufficiently cognitively undemanding for children to engage in, and therefore has the potential to play a part in fostering their understanding of other minds. Part of the functional role of shared goals is to enable agents to choose means that are appropriate to realising a goal with others rather than individually. By offering a counterexample, I show that the pattern of goal-relations and expectations specified by Butterfill cannot play this role. I then provide an... (More)
- In 'Joint Action and Development', Stephen Butterfill argues that if several agents' actions are driven by what he calls a "shared goal" -- a certain pattern of goal-relations and expectations -- then these actions constitute a joint action. This kind of joint action is sufficiently cognitively undemanding for children to engage in, and therefore has the potential to play a part in fostering their understanding of other minds. Part of the functional role of shared goals is to enable agents to choose means that are appropriate to realising a goal with others rather than individually. By offering a counterexample, I show that the pattern of goal-relations and expectations specified by Butterfill cannot play this role. I then provide an appropriately conceptually and cognitively undemanding amendment with which the account can be saved. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/c0e60689-153f-474a-857a-7beaacd6758c
- author
- Blomberg, Olle
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2015-01-01
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Faculty of Humanities, Joint action, plural activity, shared goal, mindreading, social development, Stephen Butterfill
- in
- Philosophical Quarterly
- volume
- 65
- issue
- 258
- pages
- 94 - 101
- publisher
- Oxford University Press
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:84983269045
- ISSN
- 0031-8094
- DOI
- 10.1093/pq/pqu059
- project
- Metaphysics and Collectivity
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- c0e60689-153f-474a-857a-7beaacd6758c
- date added to LUP
- 2017-07-04 14:53:57
- date last changed
- 2022-04-09 17:32:21
@article{c0e60689-153f-474a-857a-7beaacd6758c,
abstract = {{In 'Joint Action and Development', Stephen Butterfill argues that if several agents' actions are driven by what he calls a "shared goal" -- a certain pattern of goal-relations and expectations -- then these actions constitute a joint action. This kind of joint action is sufficiently cognitively undemanding for children to engage in, and therefore has the potential to play a part in fostering their understanding of other minds. Part of the functional role of shared goals is to enable agents to choose means that are appropriate to realising a goal with others rather than individually. By offering a counterexample, I show that the pattern of goal-relations and expectations specified by Butterfill cannot play this role. I then provide an appropriately conceptually and cognitively undemanding amendment with which the account can be saved.}},
author = {{Blomberg, Olle}},
issn = {{0031-8094}},
keywords = {{Faculty of Humanities; Joint action; plural activity; shared goal; mindreading; social development; Stephen Butterfill}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{01}},
number = {{258}},
pages = {{94--101}},
publisher = {{Oxford University Press}},
series = {{Philosophical Quarterly}},
title = {{Shared Goals and Development}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/pq/pqu059}},
doi = {{10.1093/pq/pqu059}},
volume = {{65}},
year = {{2015}},
}