MA class: Topics in Mind and Language
Joint Action and Other Minds (Wednesday 10-12, S!) 141)
Over the past decade or so there has been increasing interest, in both philosophy and psychology, in the claim that we should appeal to various forms of social interaction in explaining our knowledge of other minds, and capacity to ascribe mental states to others. This is often presented as an alternative to what is referred to as the dominant approach to such knowledge, usually identified as ‘theory-theory’. Such claims are made under a variety of headings: the ‘social interaction’ approach, the ‘intersubjectivity approach’, the ‘second person approach’, the ‘collective intentionality’ approach and more. A multitude of claims are made under these various headings, from a multitude of different perspectives, both about the kind of social interaction we should be appealing to, and about how exactly this or that interaction provides an alternative to the ‘dominant approach’. The aim of the MA class will be to make progress with mapping out this difficult terrain, relating such claims to each other, focusing in particular on the explanations of Joint Action. After some preparatory work, we will be looking at work done under that heading in some of the WMA projects, (The Sense of Commitment, Joint Practical Knowledge, The Second Person and Only Connect) and looking at work by, among others, Steve Butterfill, John Michael, Johannes Roessler, Guy Longworth, Tom Crowther, Naomi Eilan and others. Anyone with an interest in these issues very welcome.