An Introduction to Collective Intentionality

An Introduction to Collective Intentionality: In Action, Thought, and Society makes a cogent case for the field's importance, presents its central questions, and introduces the main topics of study. Authors Marija Jankovic and Kirk Ludwig masterfully demonstrate why understanding collective intentions is essential for understanding social dynamics, from everyday cooperation to complex institutional structures.

Through clear, accessible prose, readers work through the central questions that define the discipline: How do groups form shared intentions? What distinguishes collective action from parallel individual behaviors? How do social institutions emerge from collective intentionality? While presenting their individualist position, the authors provide a balanced exploration of competing perspectives, ensuring readers gain a comprehensive understanding of ongoing debates and future research directions. Each theoretical concept is grounded in examples that illuminate the practical implications of collective intentionality in our daily lives.

Chapter summaries reinforce key concepts, while carefully curated further reading lists promote further exploration of collective intentionality. This book is perfect for students and scholars in philosophy, sociology, psychology, and anyone fascinated by the foundations of social reality.

Marija Jankovic is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Davidson College. Her areas of research are collective intentionality and philosophy of language. She is the editor of The Routledge Handbook of Collective Intentionality, with Kirk Ludwig (2018).

Kirk Ludwig is the Ruth N. Halls Professor of Philosophy and Cognitive Science at Indiana University, Bloomington. He works in philosophy of mind and action, epistemology, philosophy of language, and metaphysics. He is the author, with Ernest Lepore, of Donald Davidson: Meaning, Truth, Language and Reality (2005) and Donald Davidson’s Truth-Theoretic Semantics (2007). He is the author of From Individual to Plural Agency: Collective Action 1 (2016) and From Plural to Institutional Agency: Collective Action 2 (2017). He is editor of Donald Davidson (2003), A Companion to Donald Davidson, with Ernest Lepore (2013), and The Routledge Handbook of Collective Intentionality, with Marija Jankovic (2018).