Modeling the Normativity of Joint Commitments

This paper discusses current debates about the normativity of joint commitments in analytical social ontology from a methodological point of view. I argue that collective-acceptance-based, critical-emancipatory, and experimental-philosophy-based approaches to social ontology all face challenges in accommodating the dynamic and strategic aspects of joint commitment. To make up for their shortcomings, I draw on evolutionary game theory and mindshaping approaches to social cognition, while distinguishing between the mental models that individuals use for reasoning about joint commitments and the theoreticians’ models that philosophers construct for studying select aspects of social reality.