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What does it mean to be human? Why do we feel and behave in the ways that we do? The classic answer is that we have a special kind of intelligence. But to understand what we are as humans, we also need to know what we are like motivationally. And what is central to this story, what is special about human motivation, is that humans want to share with others their inner experiences about the world--share how they feel, what they believe, and what they want to happen in the future. They want to create a shared reality with others. People have a shared reality together when they experience having in common a feeling about something, a belief about something, or a concern about something. They feel connected to another person or group by knowing that this person or group sees the world the same way that they do--they share what is real about the world. In this work, Dr. Higgins describes how our human motivation for shared reality evolved in our species, and how it develops in our children as shared feelings, shared practices, and shared goals and roles. Shared reality is crucial to what we believe--sharing is believing. It is central to our sense of self, what we strive for and how we strive. It is basic to how we get along with others. It brings us together in fellowship and companionship, but it also tears us apart by creating in-group "bubbles" that conflict with one another. Our shared realities are the best of us, and the worst of us.

This is the first volume to bring together philosophers, sociologists and scientists to explore and examine the role of practices in human activity.

Drawing on the discipline of adult education and his own research into the way people learn, David Heywood explains how churches can become learning communities in which people grow as disciples and find their place in a collaborative pattern of ministry.

This book presents the first analysis and critique of the idea of practice as it has developed in the various theoretical traditions of the social sciences and the humanities. The concept of a practice, understood broadly as a tacit possession that is 'shared' by and the same for different people, has a fatal difficulty, the author argues. This object must in some way be transmitted, 'reproduced', in Bourdieu's famous phrase, in different persons. But there is no plausible mechanism by which such a process occurs. The historical uses of the concept, from Durkheim to Kripke's version of Wittgenstein, provide examples of the contortions that thinkers have been forced into by this problem, and show the ultimate implausibility of the idea of the interpersonal transmission of these supposed objects. Without the notion of 'sameness' the concept of practice collapses into the concept of habit. The conclusion sketches a picture of what happens when we do without the notion of a shared practice, and how this bears on social theory and philosophy. It explains why social theory cannot get beyond the stage of constructing fuzzy analogies, and why the standard constructions of the contemporary philosophical problem of relativism depend upon this defective notion.

This edited volume examines the relationship between collective intentionality and inferential theories of meaning. The book consists of three main sections. The first part contains essays demonstrating how researchers working on inferentialism and collective intentionality can learn from one another. The essays in the second part examine the dimensions along which philosophical and empirical research on human reasoning and collective intentionality can benefit from more cross-pollination. The final part consists of essays that offer a closer examination of themes from inferentialism and collective intentionality that arise in the work of Wilfrid Sellars. Groups, Norms and Practices provides a template for continuing an interdisciplinary program in philosophy and the sciences that aims to deepen our understanding of human rationality, language use, and sociality.

The emerging knowledge economy is prompting decisive changes in the organization of business firms. Corporate hierarchies flatten under the impact of ICT and the need to delegate decision rights. The boundaries of the firm shrink under the impact of outsourcing and viable relational contracting. However, we still know very little about the mechanics and manifestations of this process. Killian McCarthy, Maya Fiolet, and Wilfred Dolfsma s The Nature of the New Firm breaks new ground in our understanding of changing economic organization. It will appeal not only to theorists of the firm, but also to management scholars and sociologists interested in organization. Nicolai J. Foss, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark The Nature of the New Firm presents a number of studies on the blurring of boundaries within and between organizations and institutions. Globalization has created new ways of doing business, new institutions to oversee them, and has introduced a spectrum of new protagonists to the international arena. Scholars and practitioners have been challenged by the evolving environment to find new ways to interact and, in the process, many of the traditional boundaries that have existed within and between organizations and institutions have become increasingly blurred. This unique compendium sheds light on these and other topics on the question of change, both within and between organizations and institutions. The contributors have expertly combined the insights of some of the biggest names in the fields of economics, business and strategic management, both present and future and in doing so offer scholars a tailor-made, up-to-date study on the topic of economic change. This book will prove to be a compelling read for students, scholars and policymakers of international business, industrial organization and strategy.