Aug 2026· Synthese· Vol 208· 0 citations· 45 references
Abstract
This paper takes a broadly pragmatist, rather than metaphysical, approach to collective attention. So, I ask not whether collective attention really exists and what it is, but whether and how we should ascribe attention to collectives. Focusing on the attribution of attention to whole societies, I argue that certain collective-level phenomena are analogous to aspects of individual attention: selection for action, the structuring of consciousness into foreground and background, and the allocation of cognitive resources to a task. We can therefore improve our understanding of the relevant collective-level phenomena by thinking of them as aspects of the collective’s attention. On the other hand, we should refrain from becoming uncritically immersed in the analogy. In particular, we should resist the idea of “society” as an extremely important agent whose attention should be organized so as to best pursue its legitimate goals, even when this conflicts with the interests of its individual human constituents.
Our attention tends to be drawn towards things that matter to us. Yet sometimes we can take the things that matter to us for granted, such as a relationship or a moral commitment. A tragic fact of human life is that we can neglect the very things that are central in our lives. This paper draws from the literatures on h...
This paper develops an account of omissions as epistemically significant features of cognition. Drawing on a functionalist framework inspired by Fodor and recent theories of attention, I argue that inattention and omissions are not mere absences but structured elements with mental architecture that determine which repr...
When, if ever, is it permissible to afford special consideration to friends and family? How can we strive to be objective in our thinking, and is this always a feasible or appropriate aim?
This book examines the categories of impartiality and objectivity by showing how they frame certain debates in epistemology, moral...
What do we mean when we speak about and advocate for ‘nature’? Do inanimate beings possess agency, and if so what is its structure? What role does metaphor play in our understanding of and relation to the environment? How does nature contribute to human well-being?
By bringing the concerns and methods of phenomenology...
The relevance problem is the problem of how cognitive systems can be sensitive to what is relevant despite relevance being holistic, open‐ended, and context‐sensitive. The problem has typically been applied to higher‐order cognitive processes. In this paper, I argue that there is a hitherto unrecognized relevance pro...
J. Bruineberg· Philosophy and Phenomenologi...· 0 citations
This article argues that human cognition is more than the performance of functions such as memory, decision-making, and attention. The brain also builds schematic models of those cognitive functions and uses those models to monitor, predict, and partially control them. When you introspect, your understanding of who you...
Michael S. A. Graziano· Proceedings of the National...· 0 citations
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