Unit profile
Research
Interdisciplinary research group working in the intersection between metaphysics, mereology, social ontology, philosophy of action and moral philosophy. The group's research focuses the nature of collectives and social entitites, such as organizations, associations, and informally organized groups.
In March 2012, a number of philosophers from the universities of Gothenburg, Lund, Malmö, and Umeå established the interdisciplinary research group Collectivity and Metaphysics. This research group was founded in order to create an institutional framework for already existing informal collaboration on relevant topics by members of the group. The group meets on a regular basis and also organizes various academic events.
The group’s mission is to offer a single platform for philosophical research on the nature of collectives. Collectives are collections of human beings ranging from formal organizations (e.g., corporations, intergovernmental bodies) over associations of various kinds (e.g., clubs, teams, armies) to random assemblages of people (e.g., victims of an environmental disaster). Since collectives are collections of a special kind of object (i.e., human beings), thinking about collectives leads to more general ontological questions as well. These concern the status and identity of groups as collections of individual objects of some kind and the mereological relations between groups as complex wholes and their individual parts.
Although interest in the nature of collectives has been on the rise for several decades now, attempts to merge findings from different philosophical sub-disciplines – in particular mereology, social ontology, the metaphysics and ethics of agency and responsibility – are still largely absent.
Collaborations the last five years
Profiles
-
-
Tobias Hansson Wahlberg
- Theoretical Philosophy - Associate professor, Senior lecturer
- Department of Philosophy - Assistant head of department
- Metaphysics and Collectivity
Person: Academic
-
Björn Petersson
- Practical Philosophy - Associate professor, Senior lecturer
- Metaphysics and Collectivity
- LU Profile Area: Human rights - Profile area member
Person: Academic
-
Counting on Contractualism: Numbers, Risk, and the Individualist Restriction
Sjöberg, M., 2026 Apr 17, Lund: Department of Philosophy, Lund University. 275 p.Research output: Thesis › Doctoral Thesis (monograph)
Open AccessFile -
Broadening Explication: An interpretation and development of Carnap’s method of explication
Österblom, F., 2025 Aug 15, Lund: Department of Philosophy, Lund University. 222 p.Research output: Thesis › Doctoral Thesis (monograph)
Open AccessFile -
Is There Backward Generation in the Institutional Realm?
Hansson Wahlberg, T., 2025, In: Metaphysics. 8, 1, p. 16-31 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access4 Downloads (Pure)
-
Vetenskapligt författarskap och kollektivt ansvar, Vetenskapsrådet
Petersson, B. (Researcher), Blomberg, O. (PI) & Helgesson, G. (Researcher)
2026/01/01 → 2028/12/31
Project: Research
File -
Revising Scanlonian Contractualism (working-title)
Sjöberg, M. (PI), Alm, D. (Supervisor) & Petersson, B. (Assistant supervisor)
2021/09/01 → 2026/09/01
Project: Dissertation
-
MP: Moral Progress. Meaning, Measure and Method
Egonsson, D. (PI), Felix, C. V. (Researcher), Petersson, B. (Researcher), Rønnow-Rasmussen, T. (Researcher) & FRITZSON, F.-A. (Researcher)
2016/01/01 → …
Project: Research
Activities
-
Reserve in grading committee, Anton Emilsson, Minimal Optimism
Petersson, B. (Commissioned member of Examining committee)
2024 Apr 6Activity: Examination and supervision › External Reviewer of PhD thesis
-
Ledamot i Nämnden för prövning av oredlighet i forskning
Petersson, B. (Role not specified)
2024 Jan 1 → 2027 Dec 31Activity: Consultancy, expert advice and memberships › Work for advisory/policy/evaluation group or panel (public/government/UN/EU etc)
-
Nous (Journal)
Petersson, B. (Peer reviewer)
2024 → …Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work › Journal/Manuscript peer review
Prizes and distinction
-
Value, Morality & Social Reality: Essays dedicated to Dan Egonsson, Björn Petersson & Toni Rønnow-Rasmussen
Egonsson, D. (Recipient), Petersson, B. (Recipient) & Rønnow-Rasmussen, T. (Recipient), 2023
Prize: Other distinction
-