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Work #558 · Late

The Construction of Social Reality

John R. Searle
1995 · English
Analytic social ontology · American analytic philosophy

Searle's 1995 foundational philosophy of social-institutional reality — collective intentionality and status functions

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute The Construction of Social Reality (Late)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency None
Observer · Moral Authority Reason
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

The Construction of Social Reality

The temporal life of institutional facts.

Space

The Construction of Social Reality

The social space of institutional reality.

Matter

The Construction of Social Reality

The brute physical reality grounding institutional reality.

Observer

The Construction of Social Reality

The collectively-intentional social subject.

Energy

The Construction of Social Reality

Energies of collective intentionality.

Information

The Construction of Social Reality

Foundational analytic-social-ontological framework.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

The Construction of Social Reality

Searle's social ontology contrasts with critical-theoretic and Foucauldian accounts of social construction.