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Joint Action: The Challenge
challenge
Explain the emergence of sophisticated human activities including referential communication
and mindreading.
The challenge is to explain the emergence, in evolution or development, of sophisticated
forms of human activity including, referential communication and mindreading.
A number of researchers have suggested that meeting this challenge requires us to invoke
some kind of social interaction ...
According to what Moll and Tomasello call the Vygotskian Intelligence Hypothesis,
‘participation in cooperative ... interactions … leads children to construct uniquely powerful forms of cognitive representation.’
(Moll & Tomasello 2007)
\citep{Moll:2007gu}
‘perception, action, and cognition are grounded in social interaction’
(Knoblich & Sebanz 2006)
\citep[p.\ 103]{Knoblich:2006bn}
‘human cognitive abilities … [are] built upon social interaction’
(Sinigaglia and Sparaci 2008)
\citep{sinigaglia:2008_roots}
I'm going to assume that they are right.
If we take these ideas seriously, the first question we need to ask is, What kinds of social interaction matters for the emergence of sophisticated human activities?
What kinds of social interaction? Joint action!
There seems to be some consensus on the idea that joint action is particularly important.
But what is joint action?
A paradigm case of joint action would be two sisters cycling to school together.
By contrast, two strangers cycling side-by-side are performing parallel but merely individual actions.
Or, to take another paradigm case,
when members of a flash mob in the Central Cafe respond to a pre-arranged cue by noisily opening their newspapers, they perform a joint action.
But when someone not part of the mob just happens to noisily open her newspaper in response to the same cue, her action is not part of any joint action.%
\footnote{
See \citet{Searle:1990em}; in his example park visitors simultaneously run to a shelter, in once case as part of dancing together and in another case because of a storm.
Compare \citet{Pears:1971fk} who uses contrast cases to argue that whether something is an ordinary, individual action depends on its antecedents.
}
challenge
Explain the emergence of sophisticated human activities including referential communication
and mindreading.
So the challenge was to explain the emergence of sophisticated human activities including referential communication and mindreading.
conjecture
Joint action plays a role in explaining how sophisticated human activities emerge.
The conjecture I want to consider, borrowed from a variety of researchers, is that
joint action plays a role in explaining how sophisticated human activities emerge.
There is a compelling objection to this conjecture.
It will take me a while to explain what the objection is.
The objection arises when we ask ask what joint action is.