The Routledge Handbook of Collective Intentionality by Janković Marija

Author:Janković, Marija
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

3. A “Macroscope” For Viewing Group Cognition

Thus far, we have discussed various dimensions and aspects of SDC, and how it can give rise to emergent group level properties. However, this does not necessarily allow us to infer the occurrence of group level cognition. In order to establish this conclusion, one needs to identify the presence of a recognizably cognitive organization at the group level, and show how it plays a causal-explanatory role with respect to the behavior of the group (and, derivatively, its members). In what follows, I review five theoretical “stances” that have been invoked to bridge the suggested inferential gap. Each stance starts from a different set of assumptions, and uses different concepts, methods, and tools for studying cognition3. We can conceive of each stance as a “macroscope” (Rosnay 1979) for rendering intelligible the idea that cognition can be socially distributed among people in ways that constitute group level cognitive systems, instantiating group level cognitive attributes.

GC1. The Intentional Stance:

Our practice of interpreting the actions of organizations is just an extension of our practice of making sense of individuals, and it is governed by the same constitutive rules. Our attempt to make sense of the actions of organizations would fail unless we assumed that the organization itself is rational. This involves assuming that the organization has a rational point of view from which members engage in the same sorts of cognitive activities individuals engage in and that the organization is governed by the same norms of rationality.

(Tollefsen 2002: 402)

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