Can groups make rational decisions, even when individuals within that group are irrational? A new project from a team led by Colin Allen of the University of Pittsburgh's Department of History and Philosophy of Science, will address the following questions: 

• How can the notion of group rationality be justified?
• Are there many notions of group rationality, or can they all be unified in a single overarching theory?
• Can the theory be extended to the rationality of representation as well as the rationality of decision?
• How can principles of rational group design be used to improve the functioning of groups?

This project aims to provide a robust and conceptually concise philosophical foundation through which particular claims about group rationality in cells, animals, humans, and machines can all be understood.

A series of publications and an eventual book project are envisioned and the researchers are planning two key initial papers. The first is to be a high-impact publication featuring a foundational account of rationality in group contexts. The second will focus on the "design of human-machine sociotechnical systems.”