Research
Publications
(forthcoming) A Pathology of Group Agency. Social Theory and Practice.
Using the example of the Proud Boys, this paper explores two things: how dissident members undermine the agency of a group and how a group may be responsible for things those members bring about.
This paper presents new empirical research about collective action, which suggests that, according to our common understanding, we do not need to seek the permission of our co-actors before leaving a collective action. We then consider what these results mean for a normativist theory of collective action.
(2021) "Quasi-Psychologism about Collective Intention". Ethical Theory and Moral Practice.
This paper considers the consequences of recent empirical results for a class of views of collective intention.
This paper presents empirical research on intuitions about the normative relations involved in joint action. It suggests that the results support a “normativist” view of collective intention.
(2018) "Alignment and Commitment in Joint Action", Philosophical Psychology, 31(6): 831-849
This paper argues against an attempted application of research in cognitive science and social psychology to philosophical debates about joint action. It then argues for a different way of applying that research.
This paper attempts a synthesis of work on the nature of social reality by John Searle and Antonio Gramsci. It argues that such a synthesis is mutually beneficial.
Presentations
Why We Need a New Normativism about Collective Action
- European Society for Philosophy and Psychology. Athens, Greece. September 2019.
- European X-Phi Conference. June 2021.
- Social Ontology XIII. August 2021.
Collective Action as Involvement
- Social Ontology XII. July 2020. (Video)
How We Act Together
- Group Agency and Collective Responsibility Workshop. University of Gothenburg. March 2020.
- Normativity and Reasoning Workshop. NYU Abu Dhabi. February 2020.
- Social Ontology XI. August 2018.
A Pathology of Group Agency
- Group Agency and Collective Responsibility Workshop. University of Vienna. May 2019.
Normativity in Joint Action
- Workshop on Subjectivity, Normativity, and Acting Together. Humboldt University in Berlin. August 2017.
- Collective Intentionality X. August 2016.
- European Society for Philosophy and Psychology. St. Andrews, Scotland. July 2016.
- Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology. Louisville, Kentucky. March 2016.
Alignment and Commitment in Joint Action
- Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology. New Orleans, Louisiana. March 2015.
Group Responsibility for Dissident Action
- Collective Intentionality IX. September 2014.
Coupling and Collective Intentionality
- European Network for Social Ontology III. Helsinki, Finland. October 2013.

Bruce Nauman, "Double Poke in the Eye II"