Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Shared Goals and Development

Blomberg, Olle LU orcid (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:
author
organization
publishing date
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
2025-11-11 18:17:41
@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}},
}