Differentiating Combinations and Coalitions
Stéphanie Collins · 2019
Abstract This chapter explains how coordination duties differ when held by members of combinations as compared with members of coalitions. It builds on the famous Hi-Lo problem to introduce the notions of we-framing and we-reasoning. It argues that the solution to Hi-Lo relies not on we-reasoning, but on a form of reasoning dubbed ‘coalition reasoning’. Crucially, this is reasoning in which the reasoner presumes that other agents will play their part in a particular pattern of actions. The chapter argues that when an agent holds a coordination duty as a member of a coalition, that duty requires the agent to coalition-reason. By contrast, when an agent holds a coordination duty as a member of a combination, that duty requires the agent to I-reason.