Collective intentionality and the state theory of money

Abstract

The circulation of non-convertible currency and the source of its value raise important ontological questions that touch upon the conditions of its acceptance. The aim of this paper is to address such questions by illustrating how collective intentionality and constitutive declarations can be employed in order to develop an adequate ontological framework for explaining the emergence and the persistence of the current monetary standard. This analysis of money differs from that of mainstream commodity theory in that it argues against individualism, which traditionally underwrites both economic and philosophical analyses of money. The resulting ontology is based on an account of collective intentionality developed upon the "sharedness" of individual intentional states; this account supports the state theory of money, combining it with an ontological analysis of the state and its authority.