Life in Groups: How We Think, Feel, and Act Together is a collection of standalone essays that explores the nature and consequences of our thinking, feeling, and acting together. Topics include collective intentions and their relation to agreements, culture as a collective construction, the impact of collective beliefs on scientific progress, group lies, and the relation of collective wisdom to the freedom of group members. Margaret Gilbert responds to critics of her accounts of political obligation and collective moral responsibility and discusses in detail the mutual rights and obligations she takes to be part and parcel of human life in groups. Throughout the book Gilbert places her notion of joint commitment at the core of our thinking, feeling, and acting together.
Life in Groups develops and applies Margaret Gilbert's influential perspective on topics to do with joint commitment: collective beliefs and intentions; rational choice and preference; group lies and corporate misbehaviour; remorse and other emotions; and rights, obligations, and freedom.
