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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.