Skip to main content
  • Book
  • © 2015

Collective Agency and Cooperation in Natural and Artificial Systems

Explanation, Implementation and Simulation

  • Offers a new approach to collective agency
  • Explains a new approach to Human-Machine Cooperation
  • Provides a new interdisciplinary framework involving AI, robotics, cognitive science, management studies and philosophy

Part of the book series: Philosophical Studies Series (PSSP, volume 122)

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check for access.

Table of contents (15 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xii
  2. Concepts of Agency

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
    2. Cooperation with Robots? A Two-Dimensional Approach

      • Anika Fiebich, Nhung Nguyen, Sarah Schwarzkopf
      Pages 25-43
  3. Human-Machine Cooperation

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 61-61
    2. Ethical Implications Regarding Assistive Technology at Workplaces

      • Hauke Behrendt, Markus Funk, Oliver Korn
      Pages 109-130
  4. Collective Agency

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 147-147
    2. Planning for Collective Agency

      • Stephen A. Butterfill
      Pages 149-168
    3. An Account of Boeschian Cooperative Behaviour

      • Olle Blomberg
      Pages 169-184
  5. Simulating Collective Agency and Cooperation

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 237-237
    2. Simulation as Research Method: Modeling Social Interactions in Management Science

      • Roland Maximilian Happach, Meike Tilebein
      Pages 239-259
    3. How Models Fail

      • Eckhart Arnold
      Pages 261-279
    4. Artificial Intelligence and Pro-Social Behaviour

      • Joanna J. Bryson
      Pages 281-306

About this book

This book brings together philosophical approaches to cooperation and collective agency with research into human-machine interaction and cooperation from engineering, robotics, computer science and AI. Bringing these so far largely unrelated fields of study together leads to a better understanding of collective agency in natural and artificial systems and will help to improve the design and performance of hybrid systems involving human and artificial agents. Modeling collective agency with the help of computer simulations promises also philosophical insights into the emergence of collective agency.

The volume consists of four sections. The first section is dedicated to the concept of agency. The second section of the book turns to human-machine cooperation. The focus of the third section is the transition from cooperation to collective agency. The last section concerns the explanatory value of social simulations of collective agency in the broader framework of cultural evolution.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Institute of Philosophy, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany

    Catrin Misselhorn

About the editor

Prof. Catrin Misselhorn holds the chair for the philosophy of science and technology at the University of Stuttgart and is the director of the Institute of Philosophy. Her research is situated at the intersection of philosophy, science and technological culture. She has published numerous articles in the area of socio-technical epistemology, the philosophy of mind and the philosophy of robotics in renowned international journals, e.g., The Monist, Minds and Machines. She is directing the project “Simulating Collective Agency and Decision Processes” in the cluster of excellence SimTech (Simulation Technologies) at the University of Stuttgart.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Collective Agency and Cooperation in Natural and Artificial Systems

  • Book Subtitle: Explanation, Implementation and Simulation

  • Editors: Catrin Misselhorn

  • Series Title: Philosophical Studies Series

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15515-9

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, Philosophy and Religion (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-15514-2Published: 14 September 2015

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-37185-6Published: 22 October 2016

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-15515-9Published: 01 September 2015

  • Series ISSN: 0921-8599

  • Series E-ISSN: 2542-8349

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XII, 311

  • Number of Illustrations: 5 b/w illustrations, 9 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Technology, Artificial Intelligence

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access