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Groups as fictional agents.

Lars J K Moen1

  • 1Department of Philosophy, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.

Inquiry (Oslo, Norway)
|April 2, 2025
PubMed
Summary

This study challenges group-agent realism, arguing that while group agency can be a useful fiction, true agency resides solely at the individual level, not the collective. It questions the necessity of group agency for explaining social phenomena.

Area of Science:

  • Social Philosophy
  • Collective Action Theory
  • Philosophy of Mind

Background:

  • Group-agent realism posits that certain groups possess genuine agency, distinct from the individuals within them.
  • This view is influential in explaining social phenomena through collective attitudes and actions.
  • The concept of group agency is debated regarding its ontological status: reality versus useful fiction.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To challenge the prevailing arguments for group-agent realism.
  • To demonstrate how individual-level analysis can account for group behaviors previously attributed to collective agency.
  • To re-evaluate the nature of agency in social contexts.

Main Methods:

  • Critically analyzing the philosophical arguments for group-agent realism.
Keywords:
Group agencyindividual agencyjudgment aggregationontological parsimonystrategic behaviour

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  • Employing an individual-level analysis of agent interactions within groups.
  • Examining the explanatory power of individual agency versus collective agency.

    • Main Results:

    • Group agency, while potentially a useful construct, is not a necessary explanation for group actions.
    • Individual-level interactions within groups adequately explain phenomena attributed to group agency.
    • The concept of group agency may be reduced to emergent properties of individual agents and their interactions.

    Conclusions:

    • Real agency is fundamentally an individual-level phenomenon.
    • Group agency should be understood as a potentially useful fiction rather than an ontological reality.
    • Explanations of social phenomena can be grounded in individual agency without recourse to collective agency.