Social reality / Finn Collin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Collin, Finn, author.

Series:

Problems of philosophy (Routledge (Firm))

The problems of philosophy

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Reality.

Constructivism (Philosophy).

Ontology.

Philosophy and social sciences.

Physical Description:

xiii, 252 p.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 1997.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Social reality is currently a hotly debated topic not only in social science, but also in philosophy and the other humanities. Finn Collin, in this concise guide, asks if social reality is created by the way social agents conceive of it? Is there a difference between the kind of existence attributed to social and to physical facts - do physical facts enjoy a more independent existence? To what extent is social reality a matter of social convention. Finn Collin considers a number of traditional doctrines which support the constructivist position that social reality is generated by our 'interpretation' of it. He also examines the way social facts are contingent upon the meaning invested in them by social agents; the nature of social convention; the status of social facts as symbolic; the ways in which socially shared language is claimed to generate the reality described, as well as the limitations of some of the over-ambitious popular arguments for social constructivism.

Contents:

chapter Introduction

part Part One The Broad Arguments

chapter I Ethnomethodology

chapter II The Cultural Relativity Argument

chapter III Social Constructivism and the Sociology of / Knowledge: Berger and Luckmann

chapter IV The Linguistic Relativity Argument The linguistic relativity argument in Thomas

chapter Summary of Part One

part Part Two The Narrow Arguments

chapter V The Arguments from the Meaningfulness of Action: The phenomenological argument The meaningfulness of action according 104 The methodology of social science according to 107 / Wilhelm Dilthey Max Weber

chapter VI The Arguments from the Meaningfulness of Action: The hermeneutic argument

chapter VII The Argument from the Symbolic Nature of Social Facts

chapter VIII The Argument from Convention

chapter Summary of Part Two

part Part Three Methodological Implications of Constructivism

chapter Constructivism and the individualism/holism issue.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 242-246) and index.

ISBN:

1-134-75407-8

1-905628-71-4

1-280-33831-8

1-134-75408-6

0-203-27997-2

0-203-04792-3

9780203047927

OCLC:

264519875