The Single-Minded Animal: Shared Intentionality, Normativity, and the Foundations of Discursive Cognition

This book provides an account of discursive or reason-governed cognition, synthesizing research in philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and evolutionary anthropology. It uses a semantics for individual intentions, shared intentions, and normative attitudes to understand what it is to be a rational animal. It distinguishes between strong and weak modal force and argues for a notion of single-minded practical cognition to shed light on the autonomy or self-government characteristic of discursive cognition. The book integrates well with research in cognitive science, evolutionary anthropology, and social psychology.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 378 pages
Publication date: 25 September 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This book offers a comprehensive exploration of discursive or reason-governed cognition, drawing upon research in philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and evolutionary anthropology. By utilizing the concept of natural language as a model for the autonomous or self-governed rationality of discursive cognition, the author develops a semantics for individual intentions, shared intentions, and normative attitudes as a framework for understanding what it means to be a rational animal. This semantics interprets claims about shared intentions and claims about what people ought and may do as expressions of plans of action that involve taking the perspectives of other people within a community. This has significant implications for our understanding of both the natural basis and the social relevance of intentional and normative mental states.

To distinguish between the strong and weak modal force, which characterizes normativity but not shared intentionality, the author argues for the necessity of a notion of single-minded practical cognition. This account of single-mindedness is then employed to shed light on the autonomy or self-government characteristic of discursive cognition, as observed in a linguistic community where members can adopt the standpoints of others.

By integrating research in philosophy and the related sciences, the formal account of the semantic content of the claims we use to express shared intentional and normative mental states seamlessly integrates with research in cognitive science, evolutionary anthropology, and social psychology concerning the ontogenetic and phylogenetic development of shared intentionality and norm psychology in human beings and other primates.

The Single-Minded Animal is a valuable resource for researchers and advanced students engaged in the study of these fields. It provides a rigorous and insightful exploration of discursive cognition, offering a comprehensive framework for understanding the nature and implications of rationality in human and animal behavior.

Weight: 453g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367724061