Living Together

Margaret Gilbert is professor of philosophy at the University of Connecticut and the author of On Social Facts (1989).

Living Together greatly develops the account in her ground-breaking book, On Social Facts. With great originality, depth, and insight, and with care, she investigates such topics as agreements, collective belief, political obligation, and the experience of guilt for actions of a group to which one belongs. This book should be read by anyone interested in political, legal, or social philosophy.

• Chapter 1 Introduction: Two StandpointsChapter 2 The Personal and the CollectivePart 3 Part I. Rationality, Coordination, and ConventionChapter 4 Rationality and SalienceChapter 5 Rationality, Coordination, and ConventionChapter 6 Notes on the Concept of a Social ConventionChapter 7 On Language and ConventionChapter 8 Game Theory and ConventionPart 9 Part II. Sociality: Introducing Plural SubjectsChapter 10 Walking Together: A Paradigmatic Social PhenomenonChapter 11 Modelling Collective BeliefChapter 12 Fusion: Sketch of a "Contractual" ModelChapter 13 On the Question Whether Language Has A Social Nature: Some Aspects of Winch and Others on WittgensteinChapter 14 Group Languages and "Criteria"Chapter 15 More on Social FactsPart 16 Part III. Joint Commitment and ObligationChapter 17 Agreements, Coercion, and ObligationChapter 18 Is an Agreement an Exchange of Promises?Chapter 19 More on Collective BeliefChapter 20 Group Membership and Political ObligationChapter 21 On Feeling Guilt for What One's Group Has Done