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Collective Goals

intention vs goal

goal is an outcome ...

distributive vs collective

‘The injections saved her life.’

Consider the statement, ‘The injections saved her life.’ This could be true in virtue of her receiving several injections on different occasions, each of which saved her life. In this case, the injections saving her life is just a matter of each injection individually saving her life; this is the distributive interpretation. But the statement is also true if she was given two injections on a single occasion where each injection was necessary but not sufficient to save her life. In this case the injections saving her life is not, or not just, a matter of each injection individually saving her life; this is the collective interpretation.
The difference between distributive and collective interpretations is clearly substantial, for on the distributive interpretation the statement can only be true if her life has been saved more than once, whereas the truth of the collective interpretation requires only one life-threatening situation.
Just as some injections can be collectively life-saving, so some actions can be collectively directed to a goal. For example, consider this sentence:

‘The goal of their actions is to find a new home.’

This can be interpreted distributively: each of their actions is separately directed to finding a new home. But it can also be interpreted collectively: finding a home is an outcome to which their actions are directed and this is not, or not just, a matter of each of their actions being individually directed to finding a home.
To say that an outcome is a \emph{collective goal} of some actions is just to say that it is an outcome to which the actions are directed and this is not, or not just, a matter of each action being individually directed to that outcome.
No mechanisms! Separate the thing to be explained from the thing which explains it.
Note that collective goals do not plausibly require any kind of intentions or commitments. After all, there is a sense in which some of the actions of swarming bees are directed to finding a nest and this is not, or not just, a matter of each bee’s actions being individually directed to finding a nest. So finding a nest is a collective goal of the bees’ actions.

collective goal — each of their actions is directed to this goal, and that is true in the collective (not distributive sense)

How could some agents’ actions have a collective goal?

Step 2: how could our actions have a collective goal?

If

there is a single outcome, G, such that

(a) our actions are coordinated; and

(b) coordination of this type would normally increase the probability that G occurs.

then

there is an outcome to which our actions are directed where this is not, or not only, a matter of each action being directed to that outcome,

i.e.

our actions have a collective goal.

[This implies that the actions of strangers on a crowded street have the collective goal of not colliding (since they are coordinated and their coordination increases the probability of not coordinating).]
[Do I need this?]
problem of action problem of joint action we do need shared intention Bratman's planning theory Pacherie's team reason- ing theory collective goals we don't need shared intention dyadic motor plans we do need intention motor representa- tion habitual processes we don't need intention } }