Social ontology is a branch of

ontology Ontology is the philosophical study of existence, being. It is traditionally understood as the subdiscipline of metaphysics focused on the most general features of reality. As one of the most fundamental concepts, being encompasses all of realit ...

. Ontology is the

philosophical Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

study of being and

existence Existence is the state of having being or reality in contrast to nonexistence and nonbeing. Existence is often contrasted with essence: the essence of an entity is its essential features or qualities, which can be understood even if one does ...

; social ontology, specifically, examines the

social world Social reality refers to a socially constructed perspective of the world, consisting of the accepted social wikt:tenet, tenets of a community involving laws and social representations. It is distinct from biological reality or individual cognitive ...

, and the entities that arise out of

social interaction A social relation is the fundamental unit of analysis within the social sciences, and describes any voluntary or involuntary interpersonal relationship between two or more conspecifics within and/or between groups. The group can be a language or ...

. A primary concern of social ontology is

social groups In the social sciences, a social group is defined as two or more people who interact with one another, share similar characteristics, and collectively have a sense of unity. Regardless, social groups come in a myriad of sizes and varieties. Fo ...

, whether or not they exist (and if so, in what way), and if so, how they differ from any given collections of people. Much of social ontology is conducted within the

social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

, and is concerned with many of the same entities, such as

institutions An institution is a humanly devised structure of rules and norms that shape and constrain social behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions and ...

socio-economic status Socioeconomic status (SES) is a measurement used by economists and sociologsts. The measurement combines a person's work experience and their or their family's access to economic resources and social position in relation to others. In commo ...

, race, and

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

. Notable contemporary philosophers who study social ontology include

John Searle John Rogers Searle (; born July 31, 1932) is an American philosopher widely noted for contributions to the philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and social philosophy. He began teaching at UC Berkeley in 1959 and was Willis S. and Mario ...

Margaret Gilbert Margaret Gilbert (born 1942) is a British philosopher who contributed to the foundations of the analytic philosophy of social phenomena. She also made substantial contributions to the fields of political philosophy, the philosophy of law, and eth ...

Amie Thomasson Amie Lynn Thomasson (born July 4, 1968) is an American philosopher, currently Professor of Philosophy at Dartmouth College. Thomasson specializes in metaphysics, philosophy of mind, phenomenology and the philosophy of art. She is the author of '' ...

, Tony Lawson and

Ruth Millikan Ruth Garrett Millikan (; born 1933) is a leading American philosopher of biology, psychology, and language. Millikan has spent most of her career at the University of Connecticut, where she is now professor emerita of Philosophy. Education and ...

Lynne Rudder Baker's "Just What Is Social Ontology?"

In this 2019 paper, Lynne Rudder Baker presents John Searle's account of social ontology, with the "startling discovery" that his social ontology is entirely

epistemic Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowledg ...

(rather than ontological). She then presents her own view of "

social reality Social reality refers to a socially constructed perspective of the world, consisting of the accepted social tenets of a community involving laws and social representations. It is distinct from biological reality or individual cognitive reality, ...

, on which social phenomena are ontologically significant". Rudder Baker rejects Searle's

physicalism In philosophy, physicalism is the view that "everything is physical", that there is "nothing over and above" the physical, or that everything supervenience, supervenes on the physical. It is opposed to idealism, according to which the world arises ...

, favoring instead

pluralism Pluralism in general denotes a diversity of views or stands, rather than a single approach or method. Pluralism or pluralist may refer more specifically to: Politics and law * Pluralism (political philosophy), the acknowledgement of a diversi ...

. She believes that all

concrete objects In natural language and physical science, a physical object or material object (or simply an object or body) is a contiguous collection of matter, within a defined boundary (or surface), that exists in space and time. Usually contrasted with abst ...

in the world are composed of physical particles; however, that "does not imply that the world 'entirely consists of physical particles'". She defines reality as all entities that are required for us to understand what we perceive and interact with. She notes that not all entities have always existed, so we can only have time-indexed ontology; for something to exist at any given time, it must 1) not be able to be reduced to anything other than itself (within that given time), and 2) and it must not be able to be eliminated (within that given time). For her, we have no access to total ontology (that is, an exhaustive catalogue of all entities that have ever existed and will ever exist). She includes in her ontology "commonsense" entities and theoretical entities.

Primary kinds

There are three features of her conception of the natural world. "(i) primary kinds, (ii) the relation of constitution, and (iii) the existence of intention-dependent phenomena." Every entity has a primary kind property; it is whatever makes that entity essentially what it is – whatever makes a table a table, and whatever makes a person a person.

The relation of constitution

She considers "constitution" to be "a time-indexed, contingent relation of unity between items of different primary kinds" at any given time. Constitution, for her, is a "vehicle of ontological novelty"; it is neither identity nor a part-whole relation. To illustrate, she describes a piece of

sheepskin Sheepskin is the Hide (skin), hide of a Domestic sheep, sheep, sometimes also called lambskin. Unlike common leather, sheepskin is Tanning (leather), tanned with the Wool, fleece intact, as in a Fur, pelt.Delbridge, Arthur, "The Macquarie Diction ...

(''x''), which at a given time (''t'') might come to constitute a new object: a

diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offi ...

(''y'').

The existence of intention-dependent phenomena

Our world is populated by things – things which could not exist without beings that have

beliefs A belief is a subjective Attitude (psychology), attitude that something is truth, true or a State of affairs (philosophy), state of affairs is the case. A subjective attitude is a mental state of having some Life stance, stance, take, or opinion ...

intentions An intention is a mental state in which a person commits themselves to a course of action. Having the plan to visit the zoo tomorrow is an example of an intention. The action plan is the ''content'' of the intention while the commitment is the '' ...

, and

desires Desires are states of mind that are expressed by terms like "wanting", " wishing", "longing" or "craving". A great variety of features is commonly associated with desires. They are seen as propositional attitudes towards conceivable states of a ...

. She calls these things intention-dependent (ID) objects, and as examples, she gives kitchen utensils, precision instruments, and credit cards. Intention-dependent phenomena, similarly, cannot exist without beings with beliefs and intentions. All

social phenomena Social phenomena or social phenomenon (singular) are any behaviours, actions, or events that takes place because of social influence, including from contemporary as well as historical societal influences. They are often a result of multifaceted pro ...

are ID phenomena. She believes that being intention-dependent does not diminish ontological status.

Social ontology

Social ontology includes two social kinds: social individuals and social complexes. She writes, "a property is social if and only if its instantiation requires that there exist ''communities'' of creatures with attitudes (like believing, desiring, and intending)." Human beings are social individuals. Social complexes are things like institutions, universities, and teams. Social complexes are constituted by social individuals at any given time (''t''). Social complexes can be constituted by a different set of social individuals at different times. She illustrates this using the example of a baseball team. When a player is traded, there is still an aggregate number of players who constitute the team at any given time. Constitution of social complexes requires (i) a constituter and (ii) a particular set of circumstances (which circumstances are needed is dependent on what kind of social complex is being constituted). She uses ''S'' to name any given social entity (individual or complex). ''S'' requires ''S''-favorable circumstances to be constituted.

Institutions

She argues that

are primary kinds (and therefore belong in ontology). They are irreducible and ineliminable (at a given time). They also (i) their instantiation requires social entities, and (ii) their instantiation requires social communities. Different institutions have different ''S''-favorable circumstances. For example, universities have the primary kind property of engaging in teaching and research. It is constituted by (fluctuating) aggregates of students, professors, staff, etc. Social complexes have causal powers that the social individuals who make them up do not have. A university has the power to grant a degree; an individual professor or administrator does not possess that power. The university is ineliminable so long as University-favorable conditions exist.

Conclusion

She writes, "The fact that we create the social world does not call for any consternation or special explanation. Why ''shouldn’t'' we persons – with our abilities, imaginations, and desires – be able to create genuinely new kinds of things?" She likens it to how beavers build dams. She believes that human contributions to ontology include mind-dependent entities, and since mind-dependent entities are irreducible and ineliminable, they should not be considered ontologically inferior to mind-independent entities. "Social theories had better contain properties like ''living in poverty'', ''being a bureaucracy'', and ''participating in political elections'' that we all pre-theoretically recognize. Since ontology limits reality, ontology matters." She concludes with, "Finally, just what is social ontology? Social ontology, on my view, is that part of a nonredundant inventory of reality that includes social individuals, properties and kinds. The relation of constitution, with different social S-favorable circumstances for different social entities, provides a schema for the whole “motley crew” that belong to social ontology."

References

External links

Social Ontology
in the

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy The ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (''SEP'') is a freely available online philosophy resource published and maintained by Stanford University, encompassing both an online encyclopedia of philosophy and peer-reviewed original publication ...

Social ontology Ontology Philosophy of social science {{social-philo-stub