| CODE | PHI3048 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Social Ontology | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 03 - Years 2, 3, 4 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 6 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Philosophy | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | While ontology is concerned with the general meaning of "being" or existence, social ontology refers to the more specific analysis of social objects (like money, football teams, and corporations), social facts (for instance, the fact that one is a citizen of such and such a state), and social processes (such as election campaigns, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the World Cup). This study-unit provides students with an extensive and critical introduction to the work of some of the most interesting contemporary analytic and continental social ontologists. The central questions pertaining to this budding and dynamic field of study are: how are creatures such as ourselves able to create social reality? How is social reality established and maintained? What role do documents, objects, and intentionality play in the constitution of social reality? Is there a fundamental relation between physical reality and social reality? Is society only about human relations, or do non-human entities also play a constitutive role? How is power socially constituted and distributed? How does money attain its value? The aim of the study-unit is to answer each of these questions through a systematic analysis and critical assessment of a number of key texts related to this exciting and upcoming field of research. Study-Unit Aims: - allow students to explore questions related to the nature of social reality; - encourage students to provide a systematic summary of particular philosophical positions; - question common-sense assumptions about social reality; - allow students to critically evaluate a number of different theories pertaining to the nature and constitution of social reality. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - define and employ key concepts in social ontology (collective intentionality, documentality, assemblage theory, emergence, deontic powers); - critically evaluate the ideas related to the constitution and sustenance of social objects, facts, and processes; - familiarise themselves with the central concepts shaping contemporary debates on social reality; - engage with primary and secondary texts on social ontology. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - identify and reflect on the central concepts in social ontology; - evaluate the merits and deficiencies of each philosophical position under scrutiny; - write a critical essay on a particular theory of social ontology; - construct sound arguments and interpret concepts pertaining to social ontology in a written assignment. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - DeLanda, Manuel (2013) A New Philosophy of Society: Assemblage Theory and Social Complexity. London: Bloomsbury. - Harman, Graham (2016) Immaterialism: Objects and Social Theory. Cambridge: Polity. - Searle, John (1998) Mind, Language, and Society: Philosophy in the Real World. New York: Basic Books- Searle, John (2010) Making the Social World: The Structure of Human Civilization. Oxford: Oxford University Press. - Ferraris, Maurizio (2013) Documentality: Why it is Necessary to Leave Traces. New York: Fordham University Press. Supplementary Readings: - Andina, Tiziana (2016) An Ontology for Social Reality. London: Palgrave Macmillan. - DeLanda, Manuel (2006) "Deleuzian Social Ontology and Assemblage Theory", in Deleuze and the Social. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. - Ferraris, Maurizio (2015) Collective Intentionality or Documentality?", Philosophy and Social Criticism, 41(4-5), pp. 423-433. - Rudder Baker, Lynne (2019) "Just What is Social Ontology?", Journal of Social Ontology, 5(1), pp. 1-12. - A selection of articles shall be made available for students on the University's Virtual Learning Environment. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Niki Young |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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